Love of Legend
by Aileen Dickinson
Summary: Harry's world change upside down. Finding the truth, discovering his powers and meeting love. Add a new prophecy to the mix. Dumblerore, ron, hermione bashing! Following Gof. Harry/OC, Slash
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first story and I'm italian, so english is not my first language. I apologize for any mistakes.**

**Chapter 1**

**-Love of Legend- **

"Kill the spare!" no… no.. "Avada Kedavra!"

Harry woke up covered in sweat at the memory of the eerie green light heading in his direction and the thud of Cedric's body hitting the ground. Again.

Moving the sheets away from his body, he sat on the side of the little bed. Looking at the clock he realized it was only 4.30 in the morning, with no chance of sleeping again. Since the end of fourth year and the third task of the triwizard tournament, his nights were plagued by the rebirth of lord Voldemort, giving him little to no sleep.

Things at Privet Drive n.4 were still the same, if not worse. The threat of his convict godfather was old news, not so scary since he never set foot in their house, and somehow they also found out that a boy died at the freak school and it was Potter's fault, so the Dursleys did their best to keep him away, preferably locked in the little room. And it was already July.

Without chores to do around the house and not being able to do some homework, having to leave his trunk in the cupboard at the start of the holidays, Harry Potter had a lot of time to think. And think he did.

He was not happy at all with the headmaster at the moment. 'I just witnessed someone being killed, on top of that, fought Voldemort, and he doesn't care one bit if I'm injured or else' he thought. As soon as he appeared back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had sent him with Mad-eye to be questioned on the events.

Something was wrong, very wrong in what always happened to him. Harry got up, fishing for some paper in all the junk that littered his floor, courtesy of Dudley. With a little notebook in hand he started to write all that he could think about.

First, his aunt said they found him on their doorstep with a letter. Who in his sane mind would leave a one old year baby outside during night in October? And with only a short letter to explain the reason. If it did explain something at all. Knowing the headmaster it could very well only tell his relatives to look after him.

Tell. Not ask.

Was his parents wish that he lives with the Dursleys? Maybe there was a will somewhere so he could find out. Turning the page he wrote "look for mum and dad's wills" under his To-do-list.

His treatment at privet drive was also a big question mark. If he was the savior of the wizarding world, why did they leave him with defenseless muggles? No one checked on him to see if he was healthy and treated well. Not even Dumbledore. There were the blood wards around the house, yes, but did they really work? Did they protect him? The wards allowed the Dursleys to abuse him, starve him and beat him too. Maybe they kept death eaters away but at least they would have killed him and leave it at that, unlike uncle Vernon who took pleasure in hurting him just to throw his little nephew in the cupboard under the stairs soon after. Harry could have had such a better childhood if it wasn't for them.

A shrill voice shock him from his thoughts. –Come down here you lazy freak and make breakfast! Hurry!- Such a lovely voice Aunt Petunia.

Looking at the clock he realized that he'd been thinking for hours. It was now 6.30. Changing in a pair of clean pants and shirt, he got downstairs and started to work. He made beacon, toast and eggs, pancakes and sat everything on the table with coffee, orange juice and milk then waited for the others to eat so he could have the leftovers.

Leaning against the counter Harry took a good look at the people at the table. Vernon and Dudley were shoving food down their throats at alarming speed. They were both very obese, "whale like" his mind suggested him, with dirty blonde hair and watery blue eyes. His aunt on the other hand, was very thin and tall, with a long neck and a horse like face. Not like his sister Lily at all, Harry's mother, who was tall and curvaceous, with fiery red hair and green eyes.

He sighed closing his eyes, when a hand grabbed his shoulder forcefully.

"Listen here, boy! I want you to paint the fence and the shed in the back, then mow the grass and take care of Pet's flowers. Clean all the house and cook dinner, I have an important guest this evening and I'll not have you ruining it. Do I make myself clear? You better behave if you don't want me to beat the crap out of you!" ordered Vernon, his face red and his fists balled at his sides.

Harry nodded in silence. 'At least I'll have something to do' thought heading for the garden without having breakfast.

He spent the rest of the day outside doing his chores, the firsts of the summer, under the hot sun. Dudley insulted him a little in passing and kicked Harry in the ribs when he didn't respond. He was a real bully, scaring the little children of the neighborhood and beating them with his gang of friends. Harry was their favorite past time, Harry Hunting to be exact, they loved chasing him around and giving him a good trashing. Lucky him, he was fast and when the bullies finally reached him they were too tired to do much damage.

Cleaning his hands on his trousers he headed inside to wash the breakfast and lunch dishes, do the laundry and tidy up the house. While waiting for the washing machine, he stared on the dinner too. He was hungry, his last meal was yesterdays lunch, a very little lunch; but he knew better than steal something away for now.

At six, with everything done, Petunia sent him away with his dinner. He took a piece of bread, a slice of cheese and a bottle of water with him before retiring in his bedroom for the night.

Vernon voice could be heard from the dining room, praising his aunt cooking. 'As if! She could burn water, there's not a chance in hell the feast on the table being her doing!' thought Harry bitterly.

Going back to the list. 'Let's see.. accidental magic' all the freaky things happened to him were not known. There was the time that he turned his teacher hair blue, when he appareted on the school roof, his hair growing back after Petunia shaved them leaving only a bang to hide his scar…

Not once he received a complaint from the ministry. Maybe they couldn't trace magic done without a wand? He would have to research the matter. But what about the incident with Dobby? And the time he blew up Marge? He didn't use his wand. Hell, he didn't do anything at all the for first one! What was the explanation for that?

Could it be that Dumbledore was watching him after all? The man always seemed to know everything about him. And Harry didn't like it at all, privacy was important to him, more so since he entered the wizarding world. And if he knew about the magic he could know about the abuse too.

It wasn't so difficult to guess either, he was small for his age and skinny, the first month at Hogwarts he flinched at every touch, barely spoke and ate too little. All signs of an abused child, they had to be blind to not notice, or maybe they were so full of the boy-who-lived shit that they didn't want to see nor care about it thinking him some kind of spoiled brat or an invincible wizard. He snorted at the thought. Wizard could be so idiotic at times, a bunch of sheep who followed either Dumbledore or the prophet or the imbecile Fudge without a doubt. He shook his head not understanding how could they be like that.

Changing into night clothes he decided to try and sleep, maybe he was tired enough to sleep all night, without nightmares. Not that he believed he could, really, but one could still hope.

Harry was woken again two hours later, not because of a nightmare, but by Uncle Vernon. He was angry, you could tell looking at the deep red of his face, the hands that clenched and unclenched, and the smell of alcohol. Joy! He was in for the beating of his life, thought the boy resigned.

"That's your fault! You freak! What did you do to ruin my contract? Eh?" screamed the man while landing his hand hard on the child's body "It's not enough that we took you in! We fed you and clothed you! You should have died with that drunk of your father and whore of a mother!" he kicked Harry's stomach and legs "You ungrateful brat!".

Hit after hit, Vernon continued with his rant, while the raven haired wizard curled on himself to try to avoid being hurt in the face and stomach again. His body hurt like hell, but he did not make a sound, it would only encourage the man to strike harder. After a long time, Vernon went away, leaving a bloodied and broken Harry laying panting on the mattress.

'Why do they hate me so much? I just want to be loved and cared for.. what did I do so wrong to deserve living in hell?' were his last thought before his world went black and lost consciousness.

When the young wizard woke again it was almost dawn. Moving carefully, as to not hurt himself, he sat up to look at the damage received. He could feel his bottom lip swollen and bloodied, his eye was no doubt black, his ribs hurt making difficult to breath, and his right ankle was sprained. Cuts littered the entirety of his body.

Harry could not take it anymore. Why should he get beaten and treated like shit and just stay silent? Sure, Dumbledore had ordered him not to leave the house under no circumstances but at the moment, tired and hurting, he couldn't care less. It was his fucking life! He would do what pleased him the most. The headmaster had no say in that. Right?

Making his mind, he decided to leave Privet Drive for good. He just had to refrain using magic and no one would know where to find him. He could stay at the Leaky Cauldron until school started and… no, scratch that. Tom would alert the old coot immediately and he would be sent back to hell. No. Maybe there were other places to stay in the Alley. Only one way to find out. Standing on shaking legs Harry slowly descended the stairs, took his trunk from the cupboard and headed back into his room, trying not to put too much weight on his right foot and taking little breaths, he didn't need a punctured lung now, since at least three of his ribs were broken.

While packing his things he decided to live behind the worst of his second hand clothes, he would buy new ones. He had his parents vault, not much since it would have to last for other three years till he found a job, but he could manage choosing cheap items. All of Lockhart useless books were thrown away along with the old essays parchments. Closing the lid of the trunk he took a look around. Seeing a backpack on the ground, he picked it up placing his wand and invisibility cloak inside, along with the few galleons he found on the bottom of the trunk. He went then to Hedwig, his beautiful and loyal snowy owl. "Hey girl, we're leaving this place now. I don't know where we're gonna stay tonight so fly to Diagon Alley and look for me in an hour or two, ok?" he whispered while stroking her breast. The smart owl nodded and after nipping his ear she flew outside.

After taking a couple of sandwiches, an apple and a bottle of water from the kitchen and storing them away in the backpack for later, Harry exited the house ready to start a new chapter in his life.

Raising his arm, wand in hand, he waited for the Knight bus to arrive. The ride was dangerous as usual, when he was finally in front of the Cauldron he was green in the face and ready to puke.

Pulling up the hood of his jacket he entered the pub praying no one would notice him. There were only two people at the tables, one of which clearly passed out from the alcohol. Tom, the barkeeper, looked at him with a raised eyebrow no doubt wondering why a child was there at crack of dawn.

Harry kept his head down and headed for the entrance of the Alley. Tapping the right bricks he was met by the sight that took his breath away when he saw it at eleven for the first time. It was still new and incredibly fascinating for him this world. Pity a lot of the people living there were unbearable to him for different reasons.

The street were already crowed, he didn't want to be recognized and in a moment of panic he found himself at the entrance of Knockturn Alley. Taking a deep breath to calm down he winced, he would have to do something for the broken ribs soon. He went forward keeping his eyes open and hoping not to be attacked by someone. Borgin & Burkes was a little ahead of him, he knew they dealt mostly with dark artifacts, but maybe he could find something interesting there. He kept it in mind for later and went deeper in the narrow dark street. It was creepy being there alone, but he couldn't not notice that it was really clean. Turning the corner, Harry found what he was looking for at last. The sign read "The Wicked Witch Inn", he could stay there for the night and then decide later what to do for the rest of the holidays. Dragging his trunk behind him with great effort due to his poor condition, he pushed the door open and took a peek inside.

A dark wooden counter greeted him on the side, round tables littered the floor, on the walls pictures representing various creatures. The sound of a throat being cleared ended his musings. In front of him there was a young man, eighteen at most, looking at him expectantly.

"Welcome, may I help you?" he spoke in a deep velvety voice. It was the voice of a noble, Harry noted. "Erm, yeah. I'd like a room for the night. Maybe more. Mh." The words seemed not to come out, too nervous being in front of such a good looking guy.

Oh Harry, already knew he fancied the same sex. He really tried to like girls, but it didn't work out. Instead of admiring Cho, last year, his eyes sought out the presence of his male companion, Cedric. And even if Mrs Weasley always tried to push him to stay with Ginny, the idea revolted him.

After a little debate with himself he accepted he was gay.

The current object of his interest, was quite tall, nearly 6 feet in height; his shoulder length black hair were shiny and he wondered if they were soft as they looked at the touch. His eyes were silver pools, high cheekbones and aristocratic features, the muscular lean body was hugged by a blue button up shirt and skinny jeans. He shook his head "that's not the time or place! Get a grip!".

"Sure thing. Follow me I'll show you your room. I'm Leo by the way." smiled Leo, taking his trunk from him and leading to the stairs in the far corner of the hall.

"Thank you. Nice to meet you." 'Why didn't you introduce yourself you idiot?' 'Cause we don't want to be found by the headmaster or death eaters maybe?' Great, now he was talking with himself. He already saw one of the headlines of the newspaper declaring him a "crazy, attention seeking brat" and denying the return of Voldemort. No need to give them anymore reasons.

"There. Is this room alright?" he nodded, noticing they were arrived "Good. The kitchens are open at anytime, with our kind of customers can't do otherwise, really. If you need anything you can look for me, I'll be either at the counter or two rooms away from yours" he pointed a door down the corridor. "The owner is quite grumpy during the day. Any questions?"

"Um, nope. I'm fine, thanks" smiled Harry. Leo left the trunk inside the room and went back to work with a last smile.

'I'm here for five minutes and I already got a crush on a bloke I've never seen.' thought the raven haired boy falling on the bed. He yelped remembering his wounds. He really, really had to take care of that, but the mattress was so soft and the pillow was calling for him. Harry fell asleep dreaming of a new life where he wasn't a savior, with a family and someone who loved him, silver eyes appearing in his mind.

A pecking on the window roused him from his deep sleep. Thinking if what he could be he realized that it was Hedwig, getting up he opened the window letting her in. She rubbed her beak against his cheek and then perched on the bedpost. Not knowing what times it was, Harry decided to take a shower, and then get something to eat. He stripped of his clothes, leaving them on top of the bed, and headed in the bathroom. While waiting for the water to warm he examined his condition on the mirror. He was full of nasty bruises, 'How in the hell Leo didn't react to this state? Maybe it's not unusual there' he thought. Stepping under the spray he let the warm water to shoot his sore muscles, after a while he started to wash away the blood, followed by his hair. It was a good 40 minutes later that he stepped out of the bathroom, when someone knocked on his door.

He went to see without thinking. At the other side there was a smirking Leo. Leo who was eyeing him, strangely? With a start Harry realized he had only a towel wrapped around his hips. He already could feel a major blush spreading on his skin.

"Um.." he was so embarrassed!

" 'Lo there! You skipped lunch and I thought you could use with something to eat" true to his words there was a tray full of food hovering behind him "and I also wanted to check on your injuries. That's not part of my job, but .. do you mind if I enter?" asked Leo.

"I.. um.. there's no need. Really.. I don't want to bother you…" he said in a small voice.

"Nonsense." sighing Harry stepped aside for Leo to enter.

The young man put the tray on the little desk by the window and then turned to face Harry with a pensive expression.

"They did a really nasty job on you.. Let me see, you must be hurting something fierce" Harry couldn't move while Leo got in front of him. Mere inches separating them. He took a sharp breath when he felt the man big hands on his sides. "There seem to be a couple of ribs broken, I've got a potion for that don't worry and also a salve for the bruises and that swollen lip of yours" added caressing the boy's mouth with his thumb.

'Is he trying to kill me?' "Does anything else hurt?" he asked.

"Um.. my .. my right ankle." stuttered Harry. Leo smiled 'He looks so adorable all flushed 'cause of me' though while kneeling on the floor to take a look at his foot. "Yup, it's sprained" he got up again "I'm going to take potions and salve real quick ok? And it's best if you wait to eat, potions and full stomach don't mix well."

Harry was let in the middle of the room trying to compose himself. How could someone have such a devastating effect on him? He thought groaning at his predicament. He went to sit on the bed waiting, adjusting the towel so he wouldn't accidentally flash someone.

Leo went to his room to fetch what he would need to treat the cute boy. He opened his multi-compartment trunk taking the skelegro and pain relieving potions, the bruise salve and bandages. When he got back he found the boy sitting on the bed, he still didn't know his name but he wouldn't ask for now, no reason to scare him away. He could still ask later, maybe he could try and gain his trust in the meantime. He sat on the bed next to Emerald. Yes Emerald. Like his breathtaking eyes. It would do nicely for now.

"Alright I need you to drink these potions. The skelegro first" he saw the petite boy wrinkle his nose. "And you obviously know it tastes like shit" added with a chuckle. Emerald blushed again. Oh, he was so transparent! Leo watched him drink the foul tasting concoction and handed him the pain relieving next.

"That's already better, mh?" the green eyed wizard nodded with a small blush still gracing his cheeks. "Good. Let me apply the salve now" spreading the white cream on his hands he started rubbing a generous amount on the bruises, starting from his chest. He noted that while painfully thin the boy had some muscle, maybe from playing quidditch. His skin was warm and smooth under his calloused hands, he could feel the boy shivering. He smirked, keeping his head down, so Emerald wouldn't notice. "Turn around, I'll do your back" he massaged his shoulders for a bit before going down bit by bit till he reached the towel. He passed then to the boy's thighs and the still sore ankle. Emerald was now deep red due to his ministrations. He leaned down onto him, taking his chin between his fingers and spread some salve on the bottom lip and swollen cheekbone.

He took a minute to look at the boy. He was really petite, and too thin; his family probably didn't treat him right; there were a little muscle but just barely. His skin was pale, but Leo could see traces of old scars here and there; on his back mostly, two on his arm one of which still red and angry. Was there a scar on his forehead too? He couldn't see with the dark brown, almost black, hair hiding it from view. Once again he was taken by the incredible green eyes framed by thick eyelashes. Emerald was looking at him with wide eyes, his plump lips open, just begging to be kissed. He took a step behind clearing his throat, refraining himself to ravish the little beauty here and there. "Your ribs will be sore for a couple of days, so I'll bandage your torso and I'll leave you the salve, so you can put it on for the next week. Ok?"

"Yes. Um…"

Harry could not believe the sensations Leo could make him feel. All too soon he was finished with the bandages, and he don't want to see him leave just yet. Could he start a conversation? But that would mean Leo asking him personal questions? Would he make an idiot out of himself? 'Ugh'

"So, are you from here?"asked Leo, maybe he was reading his mind? "That's my first time in England. I'm there just to help a friend, the guy who worked here got himself killed and Vlad, the owner, called for me knowing I wanted to see London. Pity I'm stuck here with no friends to show me around"

"Um, where are you from?" he asked shyly.

"USA. Nowhere specific, I like to travel when I can and with school 9 months a year.." said Leo, while taking the tray from the desk "Here, eat something.."

"LEO! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?! THERE'S CUSTOMERS WAITIN'!" a booming voice called from downstairs, scaring the shit out of Harry.

"Told ya he was a grumpy old bat!" he got up with a cheeky smile on his face "Well, I'll see you later Emerald, bye!"

'Emerald?' Before Harry could voice his question Leo was outside and the door closed. Still, he could feel himself blushing. Again.

He took some clothes out of the trunk, a pair of baggy jeans and an old red t-shirt. Opening his little notebook, he continued to write his doubts on what happened while nibbling on the sandwiches from the tray.

'My letter. It was addressed to the cupboard under the stairs.' Someone was bound to have noticed, unless there was some magic at work that wrote all the addresses on the letters. Still, one would check, right?

Then, instead of a teacher, like with Hermione, Dumbledore sent Hagrid to take him to Diagon Alley. Why sent the grounds keeper to him? Hagrid couldn't even practice magic and he was famous in the wizarding world, it would have been a disaster if someone had tried to curse him.

Other than that, Hagrid did nothing apart from praising Dumbledore, even while informing him of how his parents died. He also told him the all Slytherin were evil, stating Voldemort as example. The only reason, apart from Malfoy being a prat, he begged the Hat to not put him there.

Also, why did Dumbledore have his key at the beginning? And who had it now? He surely didn't see it since the second year, when Mrs Weasley had it.

Talking about Weasleys.. why were they complaining about not finding the platform 9 ¾ ? They were purebloods and more than half of their children already went to Hogwarts. The thought that maybe they were trying to catch his attention formed in his mind, along with the fact that probably it was the headmasters idea for him to befriend a well known light family.

The more he thought about it the more he felt angry, and he wasn't even at the first year proper yet.

Harry run a hand through his hair feeling tired. 'Maybe I could go to Gringotts now, and think about the rest later'.

He put on his cloak with the hood up to hide his face and made his way outside, nodding to Leo when he passed the counter.

The journey to the bank was short and without problems. It was as majestic as ever the white building that towered over the alley, he nodded to the goblin guards at the door and entered. It was late afternoon already, and only some witches and wizards were at the tellers doing their business.

Harry walked up to a free goblin "Um, greetings… Sharpclaw" added reading the name on the desk tag "I need to take out some galleons"

"Key?" the goblin asked without lifting his head from the papers he was working on.

"Um. I don't have it. I don't know where it is" the boy was now worried they would just ask him to turn around and leave.

Finally the goblin looked at him "Name?" asked in a clearly bored voice. "Harry.. Harry Potter"

The creature's eyes widened a bit "Wait here" said before walking away hastily.

'What the fuck?' thought, he couldn't be in trouble already. He barely spoke. What if they called the old fucker?

Soon after Sharpclaw came back "Please follow me, Master Potter" said, and turned around leaving a shocked boy to trail behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**-Love of Legend-**

'Why did the goblin call me that?' thought Harry while walking behind the creature.

After an endless walk and numerous turns, they arrived in front of a wide set of doors that were beautifully carved with runes. Sharpclaw opened the doors taking a step inside.

"Master Potter is here, My Lord" Harry's eyes widened, was he really going to meet the goblin leader?

A deep voice called for him to enter and he could feel his knees shaking. Taking a deep breath he walked inside 'til he was standing in front of an enormous desk. He took a look around him, the walk were covered in tapestries, most recounting battles, but on one there was a wizard shaking hands with a goblin. Hearing Binns, one would think that goblins and wizards were never friendly.

"That was your many times great grandfather, young Master Potter" he turned around, having forgotten he wasn't alone in there. There was the goblin leader. What if he insulted him by ignoring his presence like that?

"Fear not, youngling. Please take a seat we have much to discuss"

"I apologize.. um.." how should he address him? "Lord Ragnok" the goblin looked older than Sharplclaw, but that was to be expected, and had many battle scars. He was dressed richly, wearing many jewels and at his side he could see that handle of a huge battle axe.

He took a seat in front of the desk on one of the armchairs waiting for the goblin to talk.

"We were losing hope that you would come. A week more and you couldn't have.." the goblin took in the confused expression on the boy's face "why are you here?"

"Um, I just wanted to take some galleons.. if it's not a problem. I mean, I know I have only that vault and it should last a little more.. but I really need it now. And.." he was blabbering now, he was just too nervous.

"Wait. What do you mean, only that vault?" asked Ragnok suddenly "you are very rich Harry surely your guardian told you?"

"I.. I don't know. I have a guardian?" Harry was officially confused now.

The goblin looked really angry now and he was afraid it was his fault.

"Damn old coot!" he shouted crashing his fist on the desk "Dumbledore didn't tell you anything? Of your family? Inheritance? Did he teach you how to fill your position at least? No of course not.." now he was pacing back and forth behind the throne with his hands behind his back.

"I don't understand" Harry said in a small voice. All the yelling had scared him quite bad.

Ragnok composed himself and sat again. "It will take some time and a lot of work, but may it be the last thing I do in my life I will solve this huge mess and fuck up his life!"

He took a look at the child who was now sitting stiff and wide eyed. "I apologize for my outburst young one, but we goblins don't take kindly to such things."

He pressed a button on his desk saying something in goblin language, ordering his assistant to do bring him all files of the Potter house and start an investigation on his accounts. Immediately.

Leaning back in his chair he prepared himself to a long afternoon.

"I will assume you know nothing, and start from the beginning. Is that acceptable?" asked quietly, not to scare the child even more.

"Yes, of course." Harry was now very curious of what Ragnok was going to tell him.

"Good. Now. Look at that tapestry" pointing to the one with wizard and goblin together "That is Ragnok he first with Charlus Potter, your ancestor. He was the one to buy the land we are on and giving it to the goblins to built this bank. That is the reason why House of Potter is considered a friend of the goblin nation, earning them a special customer treatment and an alliance under certain terms. He saw us as equal not inferior creatures. Any questions so far? Don't fear to ask when there is something you don't understand"

"You said House of Potter?"

"Yes.. there are different kind of pureblood houses. They are classified as Noble House if they reach a certain amount of monetary assets, they need to be quite rich in simple words. For example the Noble House of Travis. If they can go back at least five centuries they are Ancient Houses, they are old but not very rich. If they are both rich and old, you call them Noble and Ancient House.

If a family can trace their tree back to the founders time, it becomes Most Ancient, and Most Noble if their accounts are over fifty million galleons" he took a sip of water from the glass on his desk "I said House of Potter before, but it is Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter. Charlus was one of the first students to attend Hogwarts, becoming good friends with the founders later in time."

Harry was awed at the information. He believed for so much time that he was a freak, with worthless parents.. and now he found out all that. It was unbelievable.

"This is.. wow" he couldn't wait to find out more.

"Indeed. So as you can see you have a huge inheritance at your disposal. Not just the trust vault you visited in first year. Your father too, being an auror made a lot of money. Now, I fear we don't have much time today, so onto important matters. As the last member of your House you are able to claim your title as Lord Potter and inheritance at age fourteen. That would make you emancipated, and an adult for all intents and purposes. No more guardian, no more trace on your wand, full power over your accounts and you could take your seat in the Wizengamot and in the Board of Governors in Hogwarts. But should you miss to claim your inheritance before your fifteen birthday you would have to wait seventeen to do so. Now, I believe Dumbledore didn't want you independent and with so much power in your hands"

"So I'm still in time?" asked Harry. That was the solution to half of his current problems.

"Of course. If you wish we can proceed immediately" proposed Ragnok-

"Yes, please"

Minutes later a goblin entered, arms full of a big tome.

"Take everything needed for Master Potter Inheritance Test, Skullbreaker" ordered before addressing the child. "This way we can make sure if you have other titles to claim, and also know your magical abilities. Most families have particular field in which they excel or powers out of the ordinary"

The goblin came back with a bowl, a dagger, parchment and a potion.

"Now, Harry. I need you to cut the palm of your hand with this dagger. Don't worry. It is goblin made, it will be painless and the wound will close itself as soon as there is enough blood on the bowl"

Seeing his recent encounter with a dagger in the graveyard, Harry was a little shaken at the idea to cut himself, but after a few minutes he closed his eyes letting his blood flow in the stone carved bowl. Feeling a tingling sensation on his hand he reopened his eyes, his wound was almost closed.

He watched as Ragnok poured the potion in the bowl along with his blood and mixed with the tip of the dagger. After that he put the parchment inside, letting it soak up the mix of liquids for a few minutes and laying it on the desk.

"It will take a little time to show everything. You can already see he ink appearing… How troublesome" Said frowning.

"Wha..What is it?" asked Harry worrying that for some reason he could not claim his title and gain the independence he needed so much.

"Calm down Harry. Do you need a calming draught?" asked seeing the child close to hyperventilation.

"No.. Yes.. um.. maybe later. What it is?"

"It seems that you are not who you believe to be" cryptic and worrisome. The parchment was handed to him. In black ink there was written:

**HINERITANCE TEST:**

**Name: Harry James Potter**

**Age: 14**

**Adoptive father: James Charles Potter**

**Adoptive mother: Lily Potter nee Evans**

Harry could not believe his eyes. They were not his parents. Who was he then?

Without realizing he asked the question aloud. "Who am I?"

"That we do not know Harry. It seems that they blood adopted you. You are for all intents and purposes their heir. The Potter blood and magic are part of you and nothing can change that. You will be Lord Potter unless you don't want the title anymore"

"No! I .. They still gave their lives for me, to protect me. I will go on and claim the title." the young wizard stated with a shaky but resolute voice.

"Good. If it makes you feel a little better, the blood adoption is only temporary. Or better it's effects" seeing again confusion in the emerald eyes he explained "after the blood adoption you took some features after the Potters. They probably used a light potion to do that. A dark ritual would have been irreversible, and it wouldn't have stated them as _adoptive_ parents. Light potions need to be renovated, usually every ten to fifteen years. Yours is losing his effect so on your birthday you will retain you real appearance and we will be able to find out your birth parents"

"Really?" he could already feel hope filling his heart. Maybe he could finally have a family, someone that loved and protected him.

"Yes. Now, there seem to be other problems" he said with a tired sigh "your magical core is bound.. to the 80% along with your abilities, the parseltongue is only half bound."

"How is that possible?" something like that could be done? Maybe that was the reason he always has trouble mastering spells.

"Dumbledore did it. Usually it is illegal bind the magical core of a child, and for so long, but of course he thinks he can do anything he wants… We can take it off, but it takes a couple of hours and it is painful. It would be better if you were to do it another day maybe and take someone with you to help you in case of need."

"I see" now he had to find someone trusted to come with him.

"Anyway, this is the Potter Head of House ring. You just need to put it on."

Harry opened the little box, the ring inside was gold with the Potter crest carved on a ruby, showing a lion ready to jump over two sword intertwined. It was really beautiful. When he put in on he felt a warm feeling on his finger. Suddenly his mind was filled with information on the family, the magics, the houses and the wards. It was giving him a headache but it was worth it.

"Congratulations Lord Potter" at least now he seemed happier.

"Um.. is there a way to keep it secret for a while? Knowing Dumbledore he will soon look for me wanting to control me and.." he still could not believe the kind grandfather like figure he trusted revealed himself to be a manipulating bastard.

"That can be done. We will wait for you to be ready to sent paperwork to the Ministry. When you are ready to take off the bindings come back here, and on your birthday we'll see who you are and the other lordships the test doesn't show now. Also I ordered a full investigation on the Potter accounts, I will send you an owl if we find something"

"Thank you for everything Lord Ragnok" he got up and bowed his head to the goblin.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Harry. My assistant will lead you back and give you one of our credit cards, it works in the wizarding and muggle world too."

He went back to the inn almost in autopilot. Why these things always happened to him? Shaking his head he opened the door of the "wicked Witch" and entered in the dark room. He went to seat at one of the tables, it was now eight in the evening so he could have dinner before crawling in his bed and cry. A little lady came to take his order and went back into the kitchen leaving him a mug of butterbeer. He felt so tired and lost. He heard the chair opposite to him being moved and lifted his head. It was Leo, he had his arms on the tables and was looking intently at him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing, why do you ask?" he couldn't lie to save his life but maybe he would get away with it this time.

" 'Cause you look ready to cry, Emerald. I'm not going to insist until you tell me, but if you need to talk to someone I will listen." he had a small smile on his face and Harry felt his heart flutter.

"I.. I don't know who I am anymore" he said in a small scared voice.

Leo's eyes widened. "How about we talk about it somewhere else?" helping the little wizard to stand, he made a sign to the lady and led them upstairs in his room. It was just like the one Harry stayed in. After sitting on the bed Leo took Emerald hand in his own, it fit quite well he noted.

"Now, what did you mean before?" his voice was soft as to not scare the boy or make him feel under interrogation.

"I… don't know who I am." seeing the confused expression he continued "I've been in Gringotts.. and.. I've been blood adopted.. and.." he was crying now and breathing heavy. He felt something slip behind his back, it was Leo, holding him in his arms close to his chest.

"Shh. It's ok Emerald. Let it all out. I'm here. I've got you" he kept whispering sweet nonsense in his ear and rubbing his back until he was just sobbing softly.

Harry couldn't believe he acted like that, but as embarrassed as he was, he felt so comfortable and safe with the older boy's arms around him. He blushed at the thought and hoped Leo didn't notice.

"Better?" the young man asked. Emerald nodded in his chest, then tried to get away, but he didn't let him go. "What did your parents say about it?"

"They died when I was little… my adoptive parents that is." he kept wishing it was all a bad nightmare.

"I'm sorry little one." Leo whispered caressing his hair. He sighed. It was obvious that his little Emerald was alone and didn't know what to do, also that he needed to talk with someone but didn't trust him enough for that. 'What to do?'.

"Emerald, I know that we barely know each other. But if you need to talk, or help or anything else really, you can come to me, okay?" he said tilting the boy's head up with his fingers under his chin.

Harry was shocked. For all his life he was alone, no one to care about him, used and abused. And now, this gorgeous man, because you could see it in his eyes that he was older than his years, he wanted to help him? He had tears in his eyes at the thought.

"W-why?" he wanted to believe it was true, he really did. But some way or another people always betrayed him it seemed.

"Because I know what it means to grow up without parents, because you need someone to help you if you want to get out of this mess, and because I like you. Enough reasons for you little one?"

Harry nodded, but Leo could see he had trouble trusting him. "What if I swear an oath to not betray you and your secrets?" if that didn't work either, he had no chance of helping the boy.

"A… an oath?! But, I can't ask you something like that!"

"You're not, I offered." he took out his wand "um.. I need your name for that though"

Harry looked at him wide eyed trying to understand if he could trust Leo. He felt he could trust him, but what if he was wrong?

After a few minutes he made up his mind "Harry.. Harry Potter" he waited for Leo to react like everybody always did with him but it never came.

"Very well. I will have to alter the oath a bit, but well.." he raised his wand "I hereby swear on my life and magic to never betray the person currently known as Harry Potter and the secrets he will share with me. So mote it be" there was a flash of light meaning the oath was valid and been accepted by magic. "Now, tell me what else is bothering you?"

And Harry did it. He told Leo everything that happened since the day before. Of his home life and constant abuse at the hand of his relatives, and the visit and Gringotts. He also talked about his first year at Hogwarts, making friends with Ron and Hermione, his doubts about Dumbledore testing him and the encounter with Quirrell/Voldemort over the Philosopher Stone.

Leo was astonished at the thought of hiding such a prized artifact in a school full of children.

He went on with second year, the crazy house elf, the students found petrified, him being accused of being the heir of Slytherin, the battle with the basilisk down the Chamber of Secrets and the memory of Voldemort that possessed Ginny.

The threat of Sirius Black and dementors in third year, meeting Remus Lupin, and finding that it was Pettigrew the one to betray the Potters.

And finally last year. The Triwizard Tournament, being chosen as a champion and being shunned by the school, the tasks, the fake Mad-eye Moody, the graveyard and the death of Cedric.

By the end he was exhausted and ready to fall asleep. Leo didn't know what to say. How could those people let Harry live through all of that alone? They should have protected him. Rage filled his being just by thinking about it. He would change things, his little one will never be harmed again, and he would teach him all he needed to know.

Looking down he saw the boy fast asleep, he laid him down on his bed trying his best to not wake him. After covering Emerald with a blanket he decided to get their dinner from the kitchen to eat together later.

Inside an old house in London two men were currently arguing. The first one was quite tall, with black long hair and blue gray hunted eyes. He was also thin, still not fully healed after his twelve years in Azkaban. He was pacing back and forth in the dusty living room, angry at Dumbledore for denying him the possibility to exit the damned house and not letting his godson live with him. Yes, Sirius Black was not a happy man.

His long time friend, Remus Lupin was trying to calm him down, with little results. He was tall too, with honey blonde hair, the first streaks of grey appearing because of the strain of the full moon every month had on his body.

"But, Moony, I want Harry here, with us.. not with these muggles! Did you see how thin and short he was? I swear if they do something to my pup I'll kill them myself!" shouted Sirius for the hundredth time.

"I know, Padfoot. But right now we can't do anything. It's too dangerous. After his birthday the order is gonna bring him here, I'll go take him myself, and then we can do something."

"I still don't like it. And my house is full of people of the order.. I can't wait to kick them all out." grinned the dog animagus.

"It sure will be funny" chuckled the werewolf


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to Artemis-Potter-Snape, dysall75, JadedPanther, lilyflower50, lilyluna78, redy-set-think and Sura88 for adding Love of Legend to their favorites list. Thank you also to cozmic, Dilligas762, Dorkchic, Kentrek1, Legobricks, Madd Girl, Nari88, Prophetical and Tenshi-no-shi69 for following.**

**Chapter 3**

**-Love of Legend-**

Harry woke up feeling comfortably warm. It was strange, because at the Dursleys he was either freezing cold or too hot. With a start he remembered that he left his relatives, no they were not his relatives, and everything that happened after that. Still, it didn't explain the strange feeling. He tried to concentrate a bit, his mind still foggy. Arms. There were arms around him, one under his head and the other on his waist. He was pressed back to chest with someone, but he didn't remember falling asleep much less not alone.

He struggled to turn around, as the arm on his hips tightened his hold. His eyes widened as he took in Leo's asleep profile. Yesterday he was able to see different aspects of this man. His outgoing side as he arrived, he caring attitude when he tented his wounds, his readiness to help when he saw Harry in need, his fierce nature when he heard what happened to him in the past years, the protective instincts towards him. And now as he looked at his relaxed face he couldn't help to think of what it would be like to be loved by someone like him. But he could not think like that. There was no way in hell a person as beautiful as Leo would ever fall in love with a screwed up boy like him.

"As cute as you are when you're lost in thought, I'd rather be it something happy." Leo's sleepy, if not husky, voice interrupted him. He was looking down at him pleased that Harry's head was still lying on his shoulder, it mean that the boy was not too uncomfortable at waking up in bed with him. "What are you thinking about?" he asked nuzzling his nose in the messy brown, nearly black hair of the younger wizard.

Harry blushed at the intimate gesture "I.. nothing" he managed to stutter.

"Don't insult my intelligence, Emerald. A simple "I don't wanna talk about it" would suffice"

"I'm sorry" he said afraid of having offended Leo.

He could feel that the man sighed as his chest raised under his hand. 'Thank god, he's fully clothed. It would have been so embarrassing otherwise' he thought.

"I'm not angry at you. I just don't like lies. So you can omit all you like, but don't lie to me ok?" he stated squeezing the lithe waist under his arm.

"Ok, I promise." he said "just.. don't lie to me either" added hiding hid face in the crook of the man's neck.

"Sounds fair" he noticed that Harry's features were already changing a bit, nothing too evident but for him, who studied the boy quite well the day before, it was.

He closed his eyes, still sleepy. Before they knew, both of them were sleeping again.

When Harry woke up the second time he was alone in bed. He sat up slowly not sure of what to do. Wait here for Leo to come back or go back to his room? He bit his lip trying to decide.

"Hey, none of that. You'll make it bleed" Leo's warm voice carried on from the door. "We missed dinner, so I went to raid the kitchens." the tray was full of delicious foods.

He served himself some pancakes, while Leo went for toast and eggs. He almost couldn't believe there was coffee too, at Hogwarts you could have only pumpkin juice, it wasn't bad but he would have preferred milk as a kid or coffee later on.

"So, do you have any plans for today?" asked Leo after breakfast.

"No, I don't think so. I mean, I'm trying to lay low.. I don't want Dumbledore to find me." still, he didn't want to be cooped up at the inn.

"How about we go shopping?" proposed the raven haired man "if you're a Lord, you need to look the part after all." added with a grin.

He was right. And he wanted to get rid of Dudley's cast offs. So he went back to his room to have a shower and change.

Hedwig was waiting for him with some letter tied to her leg. He went to see from who they were. The first one was from Hermione. He wasn't sure he wanted to read it, cause he feared that in the end she and Ron were not his real friends. He sighed and opened the parchment.

_Dear Harry, _

_Professor Dumbledore said we should leave you alone because you need to deal with what happened to Cedric. It isn't your fault. Also, you can't leave the house, it too dangerous. Do as the headmaster says. Have you already started on your homework? You should._

_Love, Hermione_

Here it was again. Her complete faith on rules and authority figures. She would do anything if a professor or the headmaster told her it was right. Even befriend him and spy on him maybe. It hurt to think about it. He threw the paper n the waste bin and took a second letter. Ron. Just great. After the way he treated him at the start of the year he wasn't sure he wanted him around. He already knew Ron, being the sixth son, was tired of being in the shadows of this older brothers, and was quite jealous. But there was a limit, and Ron surpassed it widely.

_Hey mate, _

_Guess what? We're all together in some place, Hermione too. Can't tell you much about it. Dumbledore's orders. How are the muggles treating you? Don't worry you'll be here too in a couple of weeks. Don't' write back. _

What a prat. He was just boasting about knowing something he did not. It went with the other letter. The third was from Dumbledore telling him not to set foot outside the blood wards. He didn't even read the rest, he would not let the old man rule his life a second longer.

The last letter was from Gringotts, asking for a meeting in the afternoon at 2 o'clock. 'Already? I'll have to tell Leo'. He quickly got a shower and changed some clean clothes.

Leo was waiting for him in the corridor and together they went downstairs.

"Hey, I already informed Vlad, the owner, I'm leaving. Now how about we put a glamour on you? So you can do shopping in peace" with a flick of his wand Harry became a blond with spiky hairs, blue eyes and tanned complexion.

"Um, I have a meeting at the bank later, don't know why.." said Harry while descending the stairs.

"You want me to come?" "Yes, if you want that is"

Soon they found themselves outside in Knockturn Alley. Their first stop was the trunk shop. The one Harry had was slowly falling apart and in Leo's opinion too small.

"Good morning. What can I help you with?" Harry looked at Leo, not knowing exactly what to ask for.

"We're looking for a trunk for my friend" the raven haired man said with a commanding voice "a multi compartment one. The first and second normal sized for his school things and clothes. The third a bedroom with walk in closet, bathroom and living room with connected floo. The fourth a library and a room to store potions and other artifacts. The fifth a training room, make it resistant to powerful spells. Add other two compartments as wide as the fifth. I want blood and password protections on it. What kind of dragon hides do you deal with?" Harry was shocked. All those things in his trunk?

"Every kind sir. If I may, Hungarian Horntail is the best."

"Very well, I will come back for it in two hours" they exited the shop while the shop keeper hurried to work.

The next stop was a clothing store near the inn, it looked expensive. There Leo took the lead too, ordering for him several acromantula silk robes for the summer in red, green, black, blue, gray and silver; three formal robes, also silk, in black with silver trimmings, green with silver trimmings, and red with gold trimmings. Same with the winter robes in velvet, both with several kind of charms for protection, heat, cold, self cleaning and the like. They ordered then several pair of trousers mostly in black, and button up shirts, a suit, dragon hide boots, elegant shoes, socks and underwear. It took nearly two hours because Leo wanted to be sure that the clothes would fit him even after his birthday, in case of big changes, and if he filled out a bit. Harry was already exhausted but he needed muggle clothes too later. Everything they ordered was to be delivered to his room at the inn in the evening, or tomorrow at most.

After they collected the trunk and brought a dragon hide shoulder bag for Harry. Walking in Diagon Alley they decided to stop at Florean Fortesque for an ice cream.

"I don't know anything about you" realized Harry. They were sitting outside eating their ice creams.

"You're right.." after performing a silencing bubble charm around the table, so they wouldn't be heard he decided to tell something about him "well.. My name is Kieran Leo Black, I'm 17 and I've lived in the USA for most of my life.."

"Wait, Black?" interrupted Harry

"Yes. I'm an orphan. My mother Stella Corvus died of childbirth, while my father Lord Regulus Black died when I was one. They were very young you know, only 17 and 18. So, yeah.. your godfather is my uncle." he smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry" whispered Harry looking down. Leo's hand found his own and squeezed softly.

"It's ok. Anyway my father took me to a relative in America, before he was killed. I grew up with my Aunt Cassiopea Black, strict woman, she's famous for her Black Book, a huge tome full of blackmail material on almost everyone." he grinned at the thought "At thirteen I became Lord of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. I attend a magical academy that is not very known for his students are under oath not to openly talk about it. It's an invitation only school, if you're powerful enough you're in otherwise you don't exist to them but on the bright side they accept any kind of creature too." Harry seemed fascinated about it so he decided to tell him a bit more "We study a lot of magic that it's not even known here, and how to properly fight with and without weapons, and a lot of different languages. I could teach you a bit maybe, you still need to learn politics, financial management, etiquette and at least two languages for the lord thing"

"You really would teach me? That would be fantastic!" exclaimed happily "I already know that I have a lot of things to learn to be a Lord, and not only that. The curriculum at Hogwarts is.. is ridiculous, but still, I couldn't learn even that cause I was always in some kind of trouble or Ron would distract me. Maybe I should look for some books.." he finished furrowing his brow.

"I'm sure there are a lot of books in the Potter vaults, I can lend you some of the Blacks and we can buy some other." Leo assured him. "Now we should go, it's nearly time for your meeting and if there is something the goblins appreciate is punctuality."

At the bank they were taken to Ragnok's office immediately. As soon as they passed his doors Harry's glamour fell, showing his normal self.

"Greetings, Lord Black, Lord Potter." the goblin leader walked around his desk to shake their hands.

"Greetings, Lord Ragnok, may your gold flow and your enemies fall" replied Leo.

"The reason I called you here Harry is because there are some problems with the Potter accounts. Several withdraws have been made since that Halloween, for your relatives to take care of you in theory. But while some of it went to the Dursley, most went to Dumbledore's vault and to a Phoenix vault. Just by looking at you I can say that those muggles didn't take proper care of you, much less spent money for you, so I already ordered to take back till the last sickle they received all those years. As for Dumbledore, he was able to take only money since the vault didn't grant him access, but he took quite a lot. We are going to empty those vaults as soon as you give us the okay"

Harry could not believe his ears. The Dursley who always complained of having to feed him, cloth him and else were being paid to take him in! Or maybe to treat him badly…

And Dumbledore. Not only manipulated his life for years, but he stole from him.

Seeing that he was still shocked, Leo spoke. "What is of the goblin who helped this?"

"We killed him of course. He was a shame of our race" Ragnok voice was as hard as steel as he spoke of that.

"Good. Speaking of else. I'm going to teach Harry all he need to know to be a Lord in the following weeks. Would it be possible to have the files of the Potter business, as well as the family tree and a list of what is stored in his vaults?"

"Of course. These are the business files and holdings" he said passing several stacks of papers-these are a list of his properties and descriptions, these are all the items stored in the vaults you just need to tap one with your wand and it will delivered to you by one of our elves, and I'll have the family tree be delivered as soon as possible.-

"Could we take off the bindings on my magical core right now?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Yes of course. As I told you before it will hurt though" Ragnok was not sure if he wanted this boy to suffer.

"Not a problem. I want them gone." he replied in a monotone voice.

"Very well. Wait here please." the goblin went outside to talk with a subordinate and came back with several potion vials.

He explained that Harry was to drink a vial, he would perform a chant to destroy one of the bindings and so on. The process was long and painful, but it could not be done otherwise, the risk of his magic killing him if released all in once was too great.

It took three hours to complete everything. A normal person would have screamed from the first chant, but Harry resisted, only whimpering, until the fifth releasing. Leo kept him in his arms all the time, whispering shooting nonsense in his ear and caressing his hair.

Now he felt exhausted, his throat was burning and his whole body felt sore. They gave him a pain reliving potion but it wasn't working very well, so a goblin healer was called in. He was given a full medical examination, and found severely underfed and several bones were not healed right so they gave him nourishing potions to take for a month and a bit of some potion for his bones. These would help him fill out a bit and maybe grew an inch or two. His eyesight was horrid according to the healer so that was fixed too, and hurt quite a bit, but he could see even the dust particles after. As for why he was still in pain, it was because his body was not used to so much magic and was still trying to adjust, so he just had to rest and avoid doing magic if he didn't want to make something explode. After making an appointment to see Ragnok the day of his birthday they went back at the inn. Well, it was more like Leo dragged him outside of the bank and then apparated them away.

They found themselves back in Harry's room. He felt sick, but managed not to puke taking deep breaths. Then Leo helped him out of his clothes, and since he was covered in sweat he cleaned him with a wet cloth before telling him to lay down and rest. Instead of going away, Leo took a seat beside the bed.

"How are you feeling Emerald?" he asked keeping his voice low.

"Better. But I don't want to sleep" he complained.

"Fine. We can talk for a bit but then you really need to sleep. It will help your body heal faster."

He nodded. "Why Leo? You don't like your first name?" asked Harry curious.

"Nope. I like it, but my friends consider it more a nickname for some reasons and it stuck. And I wanted to lay low here in England, Dumbledore thinks I'm dead, and Kieran is an unusual name." he explained.

"What reasons?" Leo didn't mind the questions.

"Well, they would say I'm a lion at heart. Not in the Gryffindor way. More in the "king of the school" kind, they look at me as a leader and.. I'm the strongest of them even if a bit lazy at times.- he grinned "and I have a lion animagus form."

"Wow! I'd like to be an animagus. Do you think I could do it?"

"Sure. You're more than powerful enough and after I teach you occlumency you'll do it in no time" he was more than confident in the young wizard abilities.

"Um.. can I.. I mean.. can I call you Kieran?" Harry asked blushing. Leo called him Emerald, it was not his name but it was nice. He wanted to call him something different too, so since everybody called him Leo.. he could call him Key maybe..

Leo listened to the explanation Harry made, probably without noticing he was talking aloud, and smiled. "I would like it very much if you called me Kieran, or Key." the boy blushed a bit more "but now you really have to sleep" added and then gave the boy a peck on the cheek before getting up to go to sleep himself.

A little hand on his wrist stopped him. He turned around to see Harry, face hidden by the hair.

"What is it, little one?" concerned he didn't feel as good as he said.

"Stay with me?" he asked in a little voice, afraid of being a burden and being rejected. He really liked Kieran, but he should not act on it. It was stupid. He was just going to get hurt. He reacted his hand, hoping that maybe he talked too low for Key to hear.

His hand was then circled by a larger and warmer one. "I'd love to stay" and with that Key went to lay behind the boy spooning him. He gave him another kiss on top of his head "Good night, my Emerald" whispered.

" 'night Key" he smiled seeing Harry falling asleep in his arms like it was the most normal thing in this world.

"Did you hear Gred?" "Sure Forge, and I don't like it one bit"

Two identical wizards were facing each other and thinking of what they just found out.

"How can they use him like that? He's the most loyal and caring boy we've met" said the first one.

"I know. We'll stay at his side" continued the other.

"Gather information"

"And allies"

"and we'll follow him"

"Whatever he decide to do" finished together. The Order of the Phoenix didn't know what was going to hit them. Fred and George Weasley made their personal mission to find everything useful, from information to books. Also talking with Sirius and Remus and found out they were on the same side and made plans. Other than that, the two marauders and the twins enjoyed themselves pranking order members without mercy.

The first was Kingsley, the man was just too irritating. So one day during dinner he found himself sprouting feathers and doing some kind of chicken dance. Then it was Mundungus, the little shit thought he could steal from Sirius' home, so he was transfigured to look like a rag and was used by Mrs Weasley to clean most of the first and second floors. He didn't try to steal anymore from that house.

They couldn't wait for Harry to arrive and join in the mischief.

Far away from London, Lord Voldemort was standing in an empty field. Thanks to Severus, his looks were now restored. Something with the potion went wrong but he didn't know what. Pettigrew did everything right, he was there to see. The only mistake could have been the blood of the enemy forcibly taken. But the Potter brat was his enemy, and he sure didn't look so willing to be part of a ritual to resurrect him. He could feel a headache coming if he didn't stop thinking about it. The important thing was that now he looked like his human self. He was quite tall, standing at six feet, his messy black hair had a bit of grey at the temples; his features were aristocratic again, his eyes were still red but it didn't matter. His body was muscular and lean, he prided himself in staying in shape after all. All in all he didn't look a day older than forty.

Now as he stood there he was faced with some of his worst memories. The last time he went there was nearly fifteen years ago. It was when the bloody chickens killed his Selena, and destroyed his life.

Taking a deep breath he stepped forward and sliced his hand letting the blood fall to the ground. A moment after a great castle appeared in the empty field. Slytherin Manor. His home after Hogwarts for so many years. There were so many memories of his love he would have to face inside.

Beckoning his familiar to him he made his way to the doors.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'd like to Thank for adding Love of Legend to their favorites stories .great, Aniangel Ryo, Artemis-Potter-Snape, BINGBANG4EVER, Dark Sould 1988, dhuron, dysall75, Good-Fellow, JadedPanther, jlihifrswyghkl, leobutler, lilyflower50, lilyluna78, ready-set-think, Seraphinus, shharper, Sura88. **

**Thanks to briarprincess, cozmic, Dilligas762, Dorkchic, DracoRiddlePotter, GodofMischiefandChaos, Isuckatgramma, kentrek1, Kplum101, Legobricks, linzi, Lusiek, Madd Girl, Midnight Owl7, Nari88, ogremage640, Prophetical, purrfection21, RabiNut, Salyrian, Tenshi-no-shi69, twilightserius and xAkikaze for following**

**Chapter 4**

**-Love of Legend-**

The next morning Harry and Kieran decided on a schedule. Since the bindings were removed Harry needed to relearn every spell he knew, and pour in the wand only the amount of magic required. After several exploded pillows, he managed to make one levitate before it shot to the ceiling covering them in feathers.

Other than that Kieran took upon himself to teach Harry, in the next days, the basic laws of magic, fundamental for transfiguration, charms and defense. He also would made him study all the potions ingredients and how they reacted when mixed before they could start brewing. Then it was politics and financial management, so Harry could understand the contents of the files when they decided to view them.

Several hours later, Harry was beginning to get frustrated. Why he couldn't get even a stupid levitation charm right?

"Emerald, calm down. I think I know what the problem is. One of them actually." Kieran told him calmly. He sat down on the bed waiting to know what he was doing wrong.

"First of all, you lack concentration. Starting this evening you will meditate for an hour, it is the first stage for learning occlumency too. Second, your wand. Close your eyes and tell me what you feel from your wand"

Harry closed his eyes and furrowed his bow in concentration, trying to feel something from his wand. He remembered the first time he hold it, he felt a warm tingling feeling. "It's gone. The warm feeling. Now it's cold and unresponsive" he said a little sad. His wand didn't work anymore for him. Probably because he was way more powerful now.

"Don't worry. We'll get you another wand shortly. But not from Ollivander, they never match a wizard completely and a lot of materials used in wand crafting are illegal here in England."

Staying in Knockturn Alley was not safe for Harry, thought Kieran. Dumbledore would not be thinking of searching his golden boy here but, it was still risky. Maybe they should relocate elsewhere. He had houses everywhere, Harry too he was sure. The wards would keep them safe and practicing magic would be easier, without worrying of being noticed.

"You know what? We could leave the inn tomorrow, and stay in one of the Black or Potter properties. Maybe travel a bit. What do you think about it?" proposed Key.

"That would be brilliant!" replied Harry, eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Well then, go pack and rest. I promise you'll like it" he ruffled his hair and winked at him before going to pack himself.

At Grimmauld Place, the marauders and the twins were debating if they should try and recruit more people. Dumbledore was a manipulative bastard who used his order members like chess pieces, Harry too was just a weapon for him. They didn't know what to think about Voldemort. If the leader of the light was not so light, what about the dark lord? Was he as evil as they thought? Or maybe he was the good guy. Everything's possible.

Anyway. The wanted to bring more people on their side. You could call it gray side. So they made plans.

From the people of the Order of the Phoenix they decided only on a few. Remus would talk to Nymphadora Tonks, since she had a crush on him, she was a young auror but being a Black she was more likely to understand their point. Sirius would talk to her mother too, Andromeda Tonks nee Black, his favorite cousin, a powerful witch married to a muggle and expert in law. The twins would recruit their older brothers, Bill and Charlie. Both of them left home straight out of school for jobs out of the country. Bill was a curse breaker for Gringotts in Egypt while Charlie a dragon handler in Romania. Both were quite powerful and resourceful.

Having Snape on their side would have been great, with him being a famous potion master and fast with a wand, but since he was already a double spy and not knowing his true alliance they decided not to risk it. Mostly because of his relationship with the two marauders, who pranked and taunted him in school.

They decided on a list of other people too. From Hogwarts there were Lee Jordan, the twins friend, and the cheasers Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, who were all very protective of the little seeker. Oliver Wood too, the quidditch fanatic would jump at the chance to help them. Then from the younger years Neville Longbottom, he was loyal and with a little confidence boost he would be a great wizard, Luna Lovegood, the strange raven who seemed to know everything, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff were the only ones to believe Harry in both second and fourth years. Su Li was on the list too, along with Padma Patil who had a huge fall out with her twin, Terry Boot and Fay Dunbar.

The twins would meet them during summer and explain what was happening after consulting Harry on the idea.

From the adult wizards they would contact Amelia Bones, the head of DMLE, Belladonna Zabini, Marius Greengrass and a couple of friends Sirius made while on the run.

Remus had his doubts on the thing, the kids would stay at school for nine months under Dumbledore's nose and he didn't want them to get in trouble. But soon the twins managed to reassure him.

Meanwhile Dumbledore was in his office thinking about his plans. All was going well. The Potter boy was at his relatives, abused, the perfect pawn for him to lead. And when they boy would die in battle, he would save the day killing Voldemort. Yes, the wizarding world would see him as a hero once again, and he would have the boy's money too. Having the Weasley boy and the muggleborn spy on the brat was quite useful and they would lead him where he wanted him to be.

Fawkes trilled angrily from his perch, not liking what his master was doing. When he bonded with a young Dumbledore he could not imagine the wizard would become such a power hungry man. The evil of his actions and soul was slowly killing the poor phoenix, unable to free himself from the bond.

From one of the portraits Phineas Black watched disgusted the man who managed to become headmaster through manipulations and lies, he was slowly destroying Hogwarts and her magic. Someone needed to stop this abomination. And maybe he knew who could do it, the problem was finding the lads in questions.

It was now Wednesday, and the boys were ready to leave the Wicked Witch Inn and England for a while. Harry could barely stop himself from jumping around. He never went anywhere, the only places outside Surrey he knew where the school, Hogsmade, King Cross station, Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, even if not that well. And now he was going to another country.

"Excited are we?" chuckled Kieran "We are going to use a kind of transportation you don't know" Harry was clearly happy about that. He always landed on his face or butt when he used floo, apparition made him ill and better not talking about portkey, he didn't want to use one never again.

"Actually, very few people know about it, and even less can use it" continued Key "It's called Shadowing. Just hold onto me and close your eyes. You won't feel anything, I promise" he smiled opening his arms inviting Harry to come.

Trying to contain his blush at the thought of practically hugging the other, Harry went forward and did as told. Their trunks were already shrunken in their pockets while Hedwig was sent to Potter Manor with a missive for the elves, so they could clean for when they decided to come back.

Closing his eyes he could feel something enveloping him, like a warm untouchable blanked, and next thing he knew he was somewhere in the sun. He looked around trying to guess where they were. At the foot of the green hill there was a big city, full of houses and other buildings, 'till it reached the sea. 'So beautiful' Harry had never seen the sea before. Maybe they could go to the beach one of these days.

"That, Emerald, is Los Angeles." Kieran said. He tightened his arms around the boy "Ready to go?"

Without waiting for an answer they shadowed to his house. It was a modern white house with a lot of windows, situated on a private beach. He brought it himself a couple of years ago wanting a place to relax. Harry kept looking around awed at both the home and the sea. Keeping an arm on his waist Kieran led him inside.

"We can stay here until your birthday" started "I have wards all around the beach so no one can come in without my permission, you can practice magic all you want. You can look around for a while now, we have an hour before going to take your wand"

Harry didn't need to be told twice, and went to explore the house. There was a huge library, a training room, a gym, a potion lab, an inside pool and several bedrooms. He could not wait to read some of the tomes he saw. Before he knew it, it was time to go.

They shadowed in the city, and walked to the magical shopping area that was called "Circus ring". It was a circle like area, the alleys were wide and clean, on the sides tall modern buildings and skyscrapers; nothing like the old Diagon Alley. After promising to visit all he wanted, Key managed to move Harry from the entrance.

The wand shop was located on the main alley. As Key told him, it was famous worldwide because the owner was not a wand maker, but a wand crafter. The first one made wands in block to sell them later if he found a wizard that matched them; the latter instead made the wands to match the wizard perfectly. They did cost a lot, but the result was 10 times better.

"Good morning. Is everything ok with your wand young Lord Black?" the owner asked from behind the counter-

"Of course Master Henrich" the wand crafter motioned for him to pass him the wand.

"Ah yes. In perfect condition, I see. Shadow wood mixed with Stardust wood fused with gold. Core of grim hair, dragon scale, basilisk blood and griffin feather. Sapphire focus. One of my better creations." he described before giving it back.

"Master, my friend here is in need of a wand. He had an Ollivander one, but it is not a good match and now that he removed some bindings from his magical core it doesn't work for him anymore" Key explained.

"I see. That would be the mentioned wand? Holly and phoenix feather… strange combination. Well, come in the back, we'll find something for you lad"

The old wand crafter lead them in the back room, the walls were covered with shelves filled with jars and pieces of wood.

"Now, hold out your hand and feel the wood that is calling to you" Harry did as told and found two pieces of wood. The first one was crystal wood while the second was from a Fire tree. Doing the same with the cores he picked nundu hairs, basilisk venom, royal phoenix tears and griffin heartstrings. The woods would be fused together with silver and his focus stone was an emerald.

Master Henrich was surprised at his choices "It will be on the top three of my better creations along with Kieran's one. Well, come back in four hours and it will be ready" with that he retired to his workroom leaving them alone.

As promised, they visited almost all the shops at the Circus. Harry bought a full muggle wardrobe, dueling robes in basilisk hide, several ingredients and tools for potion making. At the book store he collected tomes on advanced transfiguration, charms, defense, arthimancy, runes, warding, curse breaking, spell crafting, dueling, healing and potions. Also books on politics, magical creatures, goblin culture, werewolves and vampires too. Kieran then made him buy a few weapons, namely throwing knives, a katana and a gun.

Walking along one of the alleys Harry felt a pull. Following it he found himself in front of an animal store, it was large and full with every kind of creature. Once inside the pull divided itself in different directions.

"Don't worry. It means that the creatures that are pulling you will become your familiars. It's unusual to have more than one but not unheard of. I have three of them for example"

Reassured it was not something bad, he walked inside through the cages. The first pull came from one of the cages situated in a shadowed corner; inside he could see the a little figure curled on the ground. He kneeled trying to make out what it could be. Jade green eyes opened, it was a panther cub. It walked closer to the cage bars and sniffed Harry's hand before mewling cutely. An assistant came hurrying towards them.

"Careful please! This is a fire panther! Tried to attack all the customers and" he stopped seeing the little cub nuzzling to the boy's hand through the bars of the cage "Um.. it is a female, only three months old. Are you interested in buying it sir?"

"Yes I am." Harry replied before opening the cage and taking the black beauty in his arms "Could I have all the things needed to take care of her please?" asked the assistant before following the second pull. It came from a tank, inside a beautiful sapphire snake was looking at him.

"You came to get me young ssspeaker?" the snake asked raising his head.

"Yess, what are you?" there was no tag on the tank and he wanted to know if it was poisonous or dangerous.

"I'm a basssilisssk, young master. But my sstare will not kill for sssome time, yet. I'm too young."

Opening the tank he asked him to wrap around his shoulders while Kieran went to tell the clerk to prepare everything for the basilisk too.

Deciding to go on Harry went in front of a wide cage meant for birds. A majestic white phoenix was trilling at him. The tips of the feathers were green, blue and violet; he didn't know there were different kinds of phoenix. This one was even more beautiful than Fawkes. In a flash of bluish fire the phoenix appeared on his shoulder, careful not to hurt the basilisk with his claws.

Harry could hear Key laughing at him after he jumped, startled because of the bird. Pouting he walked to the counter to pay for his familiars and a lot of things they would need, along with books on fire panthers, basilisks and royal phoenixes the clerk showed him.

Back in the street he attracted some attention, so Kieran not wanting his companion to feel uncomfortable decided to head back for the wand, knowing the old man and the way he worked, he was most likey finished. After all they had been around the Ring for nearly three hours and half.

"Are you planning on starting a zoo?" the wand crafter asked as soon as he set foot inside.

Pouting again Harry replied "No, they're my familiars" Kieran grinned at seeing how cute his little wizard was like that. Meanwhile the old wizard went in the back to retrieve the newly crafted wand.

"Here it is" he said presenting his creation "the last thing to do is binding it to you using a couple of drops of your blood. If you please?" offering a needle to the boy he waited. When the blood touched the wand he spoke the incantation, the wand glowed gold for a minute and the bond was complete.

"What are you waiting for? Try it, go on" Harry took the wand in hand and could feel immediately his magic pulsating along with it, a warm feeling and calm washed over him. Waving it he whispered the lumus spell and a blinding light erupted from the tip.

"Whoa there! Too much power, lad. You need to practice a bit, but it's perfect" Harry beamed happily at them. Along with the wand he paid for a professional wand hostler too, and after thanking the kind master they left.

Once back at home, after leaving his shopping in his bedroom, Harry offered to prepare lunch for them and in little time he presented Kieran with a plate of spaghetti. The young man had never tasted something so delicious and praised the boy's culinary skills more than once during the meal.

"So have you decided what to call them, yet?" asked Key pointing his familiars.

"Oh yes" smiled Harry "the panther is Yoru, it means night in Japanese; the basilisk is Vidar meaning forest warrior and the phoenix is Charon, fierce brightness. Do you like them?"

"Very much. Thinking about it, I should probably let my familiars know I'm home" sending out a pulse of magic he waited for them o show up.

The first was a pure black wolf named Ebony, he was a shadow creature Kieran told him. The next was a sinuous snake like dragon, it was white and blue with a long body and wings, short clawed limbs and a cute muzzle; it didn't grow more than 3 meters in length. It was a rare kind of water dragon who instead of fire breathed cold jets of water or ice, her name was Yuuki. Last was a magical falcon, it had golden feathers with a little silver around the eyes and neck, his body was bigger than a normal bird and its claws very sharp. It was rumored that the most powerful of these animals could control the winds, and Kieran confessed that his Aiolos was one of them.

Harry played for a while with the animals before his companion told him it was time to really start training.

The next days were filled with revision of old spells, practicing of meditation, learning of his Lord's duties, laws and finance.

The time together passed fast and the boys grew to know each other more.

Lord Voldemort had yet to exit his study since he came at Slytherin manor a week ago to rest and recover from the ritual without idiotic followers disturbing him. But he could not face the memories that haunted the place yet. Shaking his head he gathered his resolve and headed for the door. He was not a scared little 'puff.. he was the dark lord, for Morgana's sake!

He walked along the wide hallways, his shoes clicking against the black and green marble floors. Arriving in front of a set of wide doors he stopped, admiring the intricate snake cravings who slithered and greeted him.

Inside there was the master bedroom. He remembered it well; the huge four poster bed, its frame showing a basilisk ready to strike, the black marble floor and lush green carpet; the mahogany desk. Then there were the paintings, a wide one showing Hogwarts at his foundation, another of his ancestor Salazar Slytherin himself and the last one. The one that made his heart break thinking of its resident.

Closing his ruby eyes he entered the room only to be greeted by two people. The first one was of course Salazar. The second was much different.

"Welcome back, my love" as soon as the warm and gentle voice reached his ears he could feel his eyes sting with tears.

She was a beautiful woman, his Selena, long ebony hair that reached her bottom, deep emerald eyes, ivory skin and red lips. A real goddess.

"Oh Tom. I missed you so much." continued her "and I was so sad to hear you let yourself be driven by revenge and pain because of what happened to me" she was looking at him lovingly knowing by his expression that he was remembering that night.

Selena met Tom Riddle for the first time when she was only eleven. He was so gorgeous and charming, always being gentlemanly and treating her like a princess. Yes she liked him very much and in her young mind she already dreamed of marrying this dark prince.

She knew that even if he looked only twenty he must have been at least fifty years old, since he went at school with her father but she didn't care. As years passed, Selena's crush increased, while he began to notice her beauty, power and how much he liked to spend time with the young witch. Courting was the next step, he gifted her with rare and priceless things, took her on dates all over the world and when he finally proposed he was showered with kisses. After a rich wedding, she soon discovered to be with child. The thought of his bright eyes and enthusiastic grin when he was told still brought a smile to her face. But their happiness was not to last.

One night the Order of the Phoenix infiltrated the manor, not even knowing it was Slytherin legendary castle. Tom was away on a meeting, and she was alone at home, heavily pregnant. The Dark Lord came back home just in time to see Dumbledore strike down on his wife with a dagger and the apparate away taking with him her lifeless body.

What followed was a crazy dark lord going on rampage bringing fear on the wizarding world like never experienced.

"Tom." he opened his eyes looking back at her " my love. It will be difficult for you to hear, but I have something to tell you. About that night."

He was ready to protest, not needing to know more but her pleading eyes won the battle.

"Fine" he sighed going to sit on the overly stuffed armchair.

"That night shortly before the old man showed up here, I went into labor" he widened his eyes in disbelief and hurt. He could have hold his son or daughter that night if it wasn't for them.

"I was going to call you with our two way mirrors but there was no time. I tried to fight back but there were Moody and Potter with him and I was in so much pain" she said in a small voice. "when he wounded me with the dagger and took me away I wasn't dead yet, like they believed. Tom you have a son. Our little baby lived." she confessed with love radiating from her voice.

"A son? And he's alive?" he asked. He could not believe it, afraid of being hurt again but hope showed strong in his voice.

"Yes. A strong and healthy boy. Not even born for a full minute and already doing magic making something shiny that caught his eye levitate" she was so proud of her little prince.

Tom smiled too at the image.

"But what happened to him? Do you know?" fear gripped his heart at what Dumbledore could have done to his heir.

"Yes and no. They talked about having a light family adopting him and using his power in their favor and nothing more. I lost too much blood by then. You have to find him Tom, please" she begged with tears shining in her eyes.

"It's not easy what you ask of me, but I promise I will do my best my queen." he whispered caressing her frame with longing.

Once again Thomas Riddle had a reason to live and someone to protect. He could push the crazy Voldemort persona in the back of his mind, and go back to his old goals for the wizarding world. Not wasting any time he went to his desk to start planning ways to find his son.

**Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapters ^-^**

**leobutler: I made it a bit obvious, didn't I? XD**

**twilightserius: I know that Harry could have grown a bit after removing the bindings, but as much as magic can help it doedn't make miracles. And i like Harry cute and short for this story XP. Maybe I'll make him grown a little bit for his birthday. I like the Remus/Sirius pairing but as you can guess Harry is not theirs..**

**Seraphinus: I love his eyes too and I can promise they'll stay. U.u**

**lilyflower50: I pratically gave it away at the end of this chapter who is his father.. so yes you're right =)**

**GodofMichiefandChaos: did you guess the right thing? XD**

**Lupinesence: thank you ^-^**


	5. Chapter 5

**I want to thank all the people who added this story to thier favorites or story alerts. I hope you'll like the new chapter. ^-^**

**Chapter 5**

**-Love of Legend-**

It was now the day of his birthday and Harry felt both excited and anxious at the thought of the blood adoption glamours falling. Still, Kieran's presence was very comforting and during the days spent together he couldn't help but fall for the charismatic young man. It was wrong, he knew that, someone like that would never be interested in him, and he didn't even knew if the man was gay or not. But it was difficult for him hiding his feelings and emotions, much more because it was his first love.

Strong arms enveloped him from behind stopping his train of thought. It happened a lot, Kieran sneaking on him to hug him, or send him a stinging hex if he was not concentrating on his work. He much preferred the hugs. The feel of his strong chest against his back was nice. And even if anything would never happen he dreamt a little during this moments.

"Happy birthday my Emerald" Kieran whispered in his ear with his husky voice. He must have just gotten out of bed. Turning around, still in his arms, he could see his messy bed hair. What made him blush ten shades of red was his naked torso, of course being in California and being summer Kieran slept in very little; just boxers in bed adding the soft pants later only for his benefit.

"Th.. Thank you Key.." he stuttered again. Damn.

Kieran chuckled against his hair before leading him to the kitchen for breakfast where there were already food on the table. Usually Harry would cook, insisting that it was no problem and wanting to repay the other for his kindness in some way, but today Kieran decided to prepare breakfast for the birthday boy. There were chocolate chips pancakes, his favorites; and strawberries with whipped cream.. he fought hard not to give in his fantasies. Pinching his arms he went back with his mind towards breakfast.

The rest of the day was spent on the beach relaxing and swimming.

All too soon came night, and his nervousness reached his peak. He barely ate and could not help but fidget in his seat.

"Emerald, come with me?" Kieran held out his hand for him to take and then led him outside on the porch. Again he wrapped his arms around the little wizard trying to calm him while debating if talking to him now or wait the following day. The first option winning he sighed trying to gather his courage. He didn't know why he was so nervous.

"I have something for you" he started with a low voice as not to destroy the moment. Reaching in his pocked he presented Harry with a little box.

Harry was surprised at this turn of events, he did not expect to receive a gift from the other. Taking it with shaking hands he slowly unwrapped it. Upon opening it he found a beautiful medallion of a silver craved lion and snake intertwined around an emerald stone. It was so beautiful it took Harry's breath away.

Kieran smiled seeing that he obviously had fallen in love with his gift "Do you want to know why a snake with a lion?" Harry looked at him in the eyes and the nodded "it represent you. You are a Gryffindor but also a Slytherin, you have both courage and cunning. You don't need to limit yourself to the standards of the others. You are special, Emerald, never forget that and don't let anyone try and change you. Because you are perfect just as you are.. I like you as you are." he sighed passing an hand through his hair, it was more difficult that he expected."What I am trying to say is.. is that I think I'm falling for you Emerald." he whispered afraid of being rejected or losing the good relationship he had with the boy.

Harry was shocked, eyes wide open and lips parted. Kieran. The gorgeous powerful Kieran, falling for him? He wanted him? It must have been a dream.

Kieran, for his part, was sweating waiting for Harry to say something with no success.

"Emerald, you're killing me. Please say something. I understand if you don't feel the same, just" he stopped seeing tears falling by the beautiful green eyes "oh God! Why are you crying? Please I didn't want to upset you" he hurried to say while wiping away the tears with his thumbs.

"N-no" sobbed Harry shaking his head "it's .. not that. I never had.. care for me" he tried to explain between the sobs. Kieran hugged him strong to his chest, waiting for his little love to calm down. He should have waited, Harry was already too emotional.

"I.. Key" Harry started after having calmed down "I .. I like you too" whispered hiding his face in the strong chest.

Kieran heart seemed to gain speed at the confession, he couldn't feel happier.

"Emerald, can I kiss you?" asked softy as to not scare him, feeling him nod from his hiding spot Kieran lifted his head with his fingers under his chin.

Harry was blushing so prettily with his eyes bright and sparkling. Slowly Kieran lowered his head until his lips brushed the other's. The kiss was gentle, loving and chaste. Harry felt like living in a fantastic dream, the sensations he felt from the kiss were new and he loved them. And he loved Kieran's kisses as well.

After kissing for a while, they went on the beach, Harry sitting between Kieran legs leaning on him, to watch the stars waiting for midnight to come.

Harry was calmer now, he knew that even after he changed he would have someone there for him who loved him anyway. Maybe love was too strong of a word for now, but on his part it was just some steps away.

When midnight was near, they retreated to the bedroom so Harry would have been more comfortable. They didn't know it the change would hurt or not, but Kieran had various potions prepared just in case.

Harry laid on the bed, clad in his sleeping clothes, and gestured for his boyfriend to join him. It still felt like dreaming calling him his boyfriend.

Kieran spooned him, holding him in his arms and started laying butterfly kisses on the boy's cheeks and neck.

When the clock chimed midnight Harry was enveloped by a silver warm light. Key turned away, nearly blinded by the sudden brightness. The glow seemed to pulse and continued for nearly an hour. When it disappeared a new Harry was left on the bed. The changes were not huge but still noticeable. His hair became pitch black, and his features more aristocratic, he grew a couple of inches maybe and his body filled out a bit. The scars and imperfections on his body, included the lightning bolt scar and the ones on his arms, disappeared leaving smooth ivory skin.

"So beautiful" Key whispered caressing his love's cheek. Seeing the boy fast asleep he went back to his previous position joining the other in sleep.

Tom was suddenly woken by a burst of magic. It felt so familiar and seemed to call to his soul. Fully waking he felt a remain of the magic still pulsing somewhere in the castle. He followed this strange pull till he found himself in the family room when the Slytherin tapestry was located.

There at the bottom of the family tree he saw a light glowing around a new name that wasn't there before. He checked as soon as Selena revealed him that their son was alive. But there wasn't any name before, the only reason he could find being that the child was not given a name yet and his family magic being blocked preventing the tapestry from acknowledge him as his heir. Now instead there was a name there. The name they wanted to give their child if he was a boy, written in silver ink against the black wall. He stoked the name, crying for the first time in fifteen years at the sight of the ultimate evidence that his son was alive.

At Hogwarts several alarms were ringing in the headmaster's office. The old man hurried to see what was wrong with the boy this time. Many of his objects in there were in reality tied to the blood wards and several charms on the Potter brat. He widened his eyes at the destruction realizing that the ringing came from the office itself as a result of the explosion of the mentioned trinkets. The wards and everything else were gone. The boy did not appear to be at his relatives. He could not lose his weapon now that Voldemort came back. The boy had to fight. He quickly grasped a phoenix shaped medallion in his hand waiting for it to grow warm, signaling the need of a meeting as soon as possible. Going back to his room to dress Dumbledore cursed the boy for the hundredth time in his life.

In the kitchen at Grimmauld place the order members were gathered to talk about the disappearance of the golden boy of the light. Many of them were lost at the thought of losing their savior, while others, namely Sirius, Remus and Tonks were angry at the headmaster for both losing Harry and addressing the situation like a simple thing.

At least the marauders knew Harry was not in danger. Sirius thanks to his bond with the boy as his godfather was liked to him by magic, since he vowed to protect him and care for him the day he was born, while Remus because his wolf saw Harry as his cub linking their magic in a similar way. After the meeting the two men shared a look and headed upstairs. Once in Sirius room they were joined by the twins.

"He's safe don't worry. I don't know what happened or where he is but I know he is not in danger" hurried to explain the dog animagus before the twins started their weird twin-talk.

The red heads sighed in relief and went to sit on the bed. Meanwhile Sirius was searching for something inside his old school trunk. After a bit a emerged with two mirrors in his hands.

"These, my young apprentices pranksters, are two way mirrors. The best way to communicate while executing a wide range prank or during a separated detention" he lectured in his best teacher voice "these were mine and Prongs', Harry's father. I'm going to send one of them to Harry so we can get in contact with him" he grinned. The others grinned too thinking of speaking with him finally.

When Harry woke up he felt sore, and strangely energized. He remembered the kiss with Kieran and felt himself grinning like a loon. He carefully freed from the strong arms of his sleeping boyfriend and went to look at the mirror. He didn't change so much. Surely he didn't look like James Potter anymore, he saw a resemblance with someone but could not place it. His eyes were still the same he was happy to see. He liked his emerald eyes and Kieran liked them too, he would have been sad to lose them.

"Come back to bed. It's early" Kieran mumbled against the pillow. Giggling he went back to cuddle with his sleepy boyfriend thinking how much he liked to call him his boyfriend.

When they woke again it was late morning and the sun was shining bright on them from the windows. Kieran slowly kissed the little wizard relieved he seemed to be okay. "How do you feel?" asked after, nuzzling his nose against the column of the pale neck.

"I'm fine." was the reply "but we'll be late at Gringotts if we don't hurry"

After showering and dressing the boys shrinked the trunks ready to go back to England. They left their familiars there, they would have some of the elves retrieve them later.

Kieran shadowed them on the steps of the bank, in a corner where they would not be seen. Before they could enter, an owl stopped in front of them holding out a leg for Harry. After a quick scan of the little package from Key, Harry pocketed the thing for later.

One of the goblins, Sharpclaw if he was not mistaken, was waiting to escort them to Ragnok. The journey through the stone hallways seemed longer to the young wizard. When they finally reached the leader office Harry's legs felt like jelly. After the usual greetings Ragnok wasted no time in presenting the dagger to him, seeing him so nervous.

Some minutes later, after the same proceedings of last time, ink began to appear on the parchment.

Taking it in his hands he began to read, with Kieran doing the same from above his shoulder.

**HINERITANCE TEST**

**Name: Aries Lorien Riddle**

**Age: 15 **

**Father: Thomas Marvolo Riddle**

**Mother: Selena Morgana Riddle nee Dragonov (deceased)**

**Adoptive Father: James Charles Potter (deceased)**

**Adoptive Mother: Lily Marie Potter nee Evans (deceased)**

**Titles: Lord of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter**

**Heir of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Dragonov **

**Heir of the Most Noble, Most Ancient and Most Honorable House of Gryffindor**

**Heir of the Most Noble, Most Ancient and Most Honorable House of Slytherin**

**Heir of the Most Noble, Most Ancient and Most Venerable House of Le Fay**

**Abilities: Natural Occlumens, Legilimens**

**Natural Animagus, multi forms**

**Eidetic Memory**

**Fire Elemental**

**Wind Elemental**

**Parseltoungue **

**Parselmagic**

**Necromancy **

**Power: Mage level – 160 points **

**Bonds: Sirius Black, godfather **

**Lucius Malfoy, godfather**

**Narcissa Malfoy, godmother**

**Remus Lupin, werewolf kin**

**Kieran Black, soul mate**

**Magical creatures, number three, familiars**

**NOTE: Horcrux vessel, belonging to Thomas Marvolo Riddle. **

Harry felt awed at what was written. So many titles. And his father was alive. He already heard that name but could not place the memory at the moment. Feeling overwhelmed he took a deep breath before looking at Kieran who was still smiling at the soul mate bit. It meant they were destined together and nothing could part them. He would not let it happen that was sure.

"Harry" Ragnok called for his attention "if you're not aware, Thomas Riddle is also known as Lord Voldemort" the boy felt like crying at the revelation. His own father trying to kill him. There was no chance for him to have a family.

"Hey, as evil as one can be, I doubt he would have tried to kill you knowing you were his son" Key brought back a bit of hope in his heart.

Before leaving Gringotts Harry accepted the Lordships of the many houses and the heir ring for the other. The Dragonov ring was a red stone with a roaring dragon, the Gryffindor one was amber with a griffin holding a sword in its claws. The Le Fay ring was an diamond stone with a nundu carved in black. The last one was the Slythering heir ring, it was a bit smaller than the others with an emerald stone and a basilisk carving.

Deciding it was time Harry, now Aries gave the goblin leader the okay to sent all the paperwork to the ministry and take back the money Dumbledore stole from him.

After asking for the files of the families to be sent to him he bid farewell to Ragnok leaving the bank.

Seeing as no one would bother him with his new looks, they decided to stop at Florien for an ice cream, having missed breakfast they were both quite hungry.

Taking the little package from his pocket Aries unwrapped him. There was a small letter along with a circular mirror.

_Dear cub, _

_First of all, happy birthday! We wanted to give this to you in person but since you are missing.._

Was written in Remus elegant scrawl, Aries smiled realizing now how much he missed them.

**Where the hell are you pup? You're going to give me white hair from all the worry! And my handsome self can not have white hair..**

Sirius was his usual self. He felt sorry for worrying them, maybe he should have written.

_Don't' mind the mutt, cub. The important thing is that you are not in danger. We missed you so much but because of Dumbledore we could not see you…_

**Manipulative old bastard! Harry you can't trust him, you hear? He wants to use you as a weapon against Voldemort and nothing else!**

_Bloody hell, Pad! You have the sensibility of a troll! Harry forgive him, Akzaban did not better him. _

_HarMate! __**we miss you so much! **__We've been__** pranking the chickens**__ and gathering useful information __**for our side!**_

The twins. He missed them too. They were like big brothers to him and always managed to make him smile.

**Pup, the mirror inside the package is a two way mirror. I have its twin. That way we can talk safely wherever you are. **

_Please cub, we would like to talk with you. Call as soon as you can. _

_Love, _

_Moony, _**Padfoot, **_Gred&__**Forge**_

"What are you waiting for Emerald? It's clear someone is dying to hear from you" chucked Kieran, waiving his wand erecting a silencing charm around them.

"But.. I'm.. what if they? And Volde.."

"Hey!" Kieran stopped him "They love you, and will continue to do so whoever you are"

Aries smiled and pecked Key on the lips in thanks. "Um.. how does it work?" asked confused

Key laughed aloud at that "You just need to call the name of the other" replied before kissing the pout away from his little love's lips.

"Sirius" he called in the mirror. After a few second a face appeared.

"PUP! God I was so worried! Are you fine!? What happened!? Where are you?" Sirius seemed to be unstoppable.

"Padfoot, let him answer for Merlin's beard!" he could hear Remus and soon his face joined in in the mirror along with the twins.

"Har!" the called together "What the fuck" "happended" "to you?"

" 'Lo guys" he replied quietly "I missed you too and I'm sorry if I didn't write. I'm fine and I'm in London now. And a lot happened really, too long to explain like that."

"Maybe we could meet somewhere?" proposed Moony anxious to see for himself that his cub was really fine, his wolf happy at the idea.

"Um. Yeah. Sure" he looked at Kieran asking his opinion. The other smiled and nodded. "Can you come at the Wicked Witch in Knockturn Alley?"

Sirius looked surprised at the place but quickly nodded "Tell me when and I'll be there. Even now"

"How about in twenty? I'd like to finish my ice cream before" smiled Aries.

"That's perfect, cub. We'll be there" replied Moony before ending the connection.

Aries exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Fifteen minutes later they were headed to the inn where they met the first time. They walked side by side with Kieran's arm around his shoulders.

Arriving at the inn they went to greet Vlad, the owner friend of Kieran and booked a room for their meeting.

The twins were the firsts to enter heading straight to hug their little brother.

"Harry!" they shouted together sandwiching him between their bodies.

"We missed you" "so much!" " and look" "at you!" "so cute!" "we could eat you!"

Sirius and Remus couldn't help but smile at the scene. But they were soon divided.

There was a snort and suddenly Aries disappeared from between them, being hold securely by Kieran "Hands off you two, he's already taken" he told them.

"Ooooh! Who's this hunk?" they asked winking at him. Aries blushed under the twins grins and the inquisitive stares from the marauders.

"He's my boyfriend." he replied praying nothing too embarrassing would happen.

"Well." started Sirius "you sure seem to have good taste, even if I prefer the fairer sex. And you" addressing to Key "you hurt him, I kill you. Understand?" he threatened with his best 'I'm a crazy Azkaban convict murderer' look.

"I'm not going to hurt him. But, duly noted" Kieran answered calmly.

"Good. Now that the threatening is done. Maybe introductions are in order?" proposed Moony.

"Yeah or maybe Har could tell us what happened before" started Fred

"Yup, we're curious." nodded George.

Aries took a seat at the couch and started to tell them everything from the beginning.

The four were shocked and angry. Moony was growling at the thought of someone hurting his cub, Sirius was damning Dumbledore to the pits of hell, the twins instead were fascinated at his new identity.

"Are you mad at me?" asked Aries in a small voice, scared they would hate him for being Voldemort son.

"No! Merlin pup, you could be the bastard son of a dementor and Bellatrix and I would love you anyway!" exclaimed his godfather with his usual touch. Everybody laughed at that."Now, I really want to know who he is though" continued the animagus.

"I can take care of that" said Key seeing Aries tired from the long story. "My name is Kieran Leo Black." his words were met with shock.

"Sirius! Who did you knock up! You horny mutt! I thought you knew better!" shouted Remus at his playboy friend. Sirius for his part had gone ghostly white.

"I.. I didn't.. it's.." he tried to talk but found himself reduced to a stuttering mess.

Fearing the man would faint Key interrupted the wolf "I can assure you I am not Sirius bastard child" the man in question sagged in relief "I'm his nephew. Regulus was my father."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you everyone for following the story and for the kind reviews. Dorkchic, as I said before the fisrt chapter I'm italian and I don't pretend to write perfectly in a language that it's not mine but they're mostly typing errors; I tried to check for any but it seems that I missed some ^^ I am not offended and being told where I do wrong is the best way to get better, so don't worry. Hope you like the new chapter =) **

**Chapter 6**

**-Love of Legend-**

The revelation was met by silence on Sirius part. He didn't know his little brother had a girlfriend, much less a wife. Nor did he knew of them having a son. He regretted so much drifting apart from his brother because of stupid things over the years, now more than ever.

They were always together when little, plotting and playing pranks together. But when he was sorted in Gryffindor and Reg in Slytherin, they were divided by the houses rivalry.

"Where have you been all those years? I mean. Who took care of you?" asked Sirius

"Aunt Cassiopea in America. Father brought me there when I was one, shortly before being killed"

He died so young his little brother. He was crushed when he found out but didn't dare to show it, only Remus knew how he felt, the order would have jumped at him calling him a death eater no doubt.

"I still don't understand" broke the silence Moony "How did you come to be James and Lily's son? Did they knew? And if so, how could they?"

"Something must have happened" reasoned Padfoot "Lily was pregnant after all"

A tapping at the windows interrupted them. Fred got up, being the nearest to the window, and let the owl enter. It had a letter. For Aries.

Turning it in his hands, he saw that it was very old. Opening it he began to read aloud.

_Dear Harry, _

_While I'm writing this letter you're sleeping in your crib, looking so angelic. I feel so ashamed of myself. I've done something terrible, and I must confess to you what happened. _

_I'm not your mother. We blood adopted you._

_You see, I was pregnant. I was going to have a baby boy. Then on the night of the 31 of July something happened. _

_I went into labor, but I was alone at home. James was on a mission for the Order of the Phoenix. I could not apparate to the hospital myself and our floo network was disconnected for protection. _

_Something went wrong, very wrong. When Sirius came to check on me, as promised to James, he found me on the ground nearly unconscious. He took me to St. Mungo's as fast as possible but it was too late._

_My baby had his cordon wrapped around his neck, killing him. My baby was dead before seeing the world. _

_James was the first to know. He told me everything would be alright. He would make it better. When he came back after a few minutes he had a baby in his arms, who looked like him. _

_In my fragile state I thought you were his bastard child, before he explained that Dumbledore wanted us to take care of you, that he already blood adopted you. They didn't need me to do it as well. _

_I accepted. Not thinking, I took you as my son and presented you to our friends as mine. _

_Only later, after properly grieving for my baby I realized what I did. I didn't know who you were, what happened to you, if you still had parents out there looking for you. _

_James won't answer my questions about you origins. But it can't be good. I noticed how he behaves. The perfect caring father around people, but when they're gone he doesn't even look at you. It doesn't make sense. Even if from a dark family you're still an innocent baby._

_Anyway. I told you the truth so you could find who you are and your real family, if they're still alive. I feel that I won't be on this earth for long. Something will happen soon and it won't be good. The Dark Lord seems to get more and more violent as the days pass. _

_As advice I can tell you to not trust Dumbledore, I can't tell why, it's just a sensation. _

_I know I don't deserve forgiveness for my selfish act, but I hope that you can understand even a little my reasons. _

_I will always love you and protect you._

_Lily Evans_

"I can't believe James. I thought better of him" commented Remus shaking his head.

"James doesn't matter now. What are you going to do now Aries?" asked one of the twins.

He sighed tiredly. "I suppose I should contact my father but.. I'm scared" he admitted leaning against Kieran shoulder.

"He's your father pup. I'm sure everything will be fine" reassured him Sirius.

"And of course-"started a twin "we'll be with you" continued the other "all the way!" they finished together.

"Fine, you convinced me. I'll write him a letter and see what happens" agreed Aries before conjuring parchment and ink.

After the ink dried he carefully folded the letter. "Charon!" he called ignoring the puzzled expressions of the four pranksters.

In a flash of blue and violet fire the Phoenix appeared in front of him, landing on the small table. He chirped happily and pecked lightly his hand.

"What the Fuck!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Um. This is Charon, he's a Royal phoenix and he's my familiar" told them Aries before explaining the smart bird what to do.

In another flash he was gone, and all Aries had to do was waiting for Voldemort, his father, to reply.

Lord Voldemort was in his study trying to find some ritual to help him locate Aries when a rare phoenix flashed in front of him. The beautiful bird placed a scroll on the desk before perching on top of the armchair opposite to him and singing a happy tune.

Opening the scroll, calmed by the song, he wondered what it could be. His eyes widened in shock and horror before reading it for a second time, wanting to be sure he was no hallucinating.

_**Dear Voldemort,**_

_**It is alright to start the letter like that? I really don't know how to go about this so I just will tell you as it comes.**_

_**A few days ago I found out that the Potters were not my parents and that I was blood adopted. I also has several bindings on my core, but you don't care about that surely. Last night the blood glamours of the adoption fell so I was able to find my real identity at Gringotts.**_

_**As strange as it is… you are my father.**_

_**I don't know if you care about me or still want to kill me for some reason. I can tell you that I'm not on Dumbledore side. The old man fucked up my life one time too much. So I will not fight you, if you won't come after me. **_

_**All my life I dreamed of having a family, a real one, someone who cared for me and protected me. What is going to happen is up to you. **_

_**Charon will wait for a reply. **_

_**Aries Lorien Riddle **_

Tom could not believe it. He tried to kill his own son! He was disgusted with himself. And the boy was willing to give him a chance? How?

He scribbled a reply without wasting time and gave it to the phoenix petting it before it flashed back to his son.

He tugged at his hair, suddenly worried of losing his son because of his idiocy that Halloween night.

Really? A prophecy? From that drunkard who could not predict the weather? How stupid could he have been? He was blinded by pain and revenge but he should have been more careful. And plan his attacks carefully. As much as he wanted to, he could not chance the past.

Getting up he went to see Selena to give both the good and the bad news. If she was alive, she would have skinned him alive for nearly hurting their baby.

_Dear Aries._

_I swear I did not know who you really were when I attacked the Potters. I would never intentionally hurt you. You have to believe that._

_Until a couple of days ago I was not even aware of your existence. It is a long story, and painful for me, but the night you were born the order attacked my manor. Dumbledore killed your mother before I could come to her rescue and took her body away with him. You were not born yet. _

_From her portrait, Selena told me that you were alive and probably with a light family. _

_I wish I could undo the errors of the past, but it is beyond my powers. _

_I would love more than anything to have you by my side as my son and heir, Aries. But I understand your lack of trust towards me. So, I am willing to answer any and all questions you may have even under a truth oath. _

_I will leave the wards open for the next twenty minutes for you, and whomever you wish to accompany you, to flash here with your phoenix. _

_I swear no harm will come to you, or the people with you. _

_Thomas Marvolo Riddle. _

After reading the letter Aries looked at the others, his eyes pleading them to go with him.

"Oy, I invented and perfected the puppy look, it doesn't work on me. Kinda." stated Sirius.

"Shut up, Pad. We'll come with you of course. You don't even have to ask." smiled Remus

"We're in too!" shouted the twins.

Kieran just smiled. There was no way in hell he was going to let Aries go somewhere without him.

Grabbing Charon's tail feathers the six wizards vanished from the room.

Dumbledore was pacing in his office at Hogwarts. His order members could not find the Potter boy anywhere. He had them search the Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley, Gringotts, even Knockturn Alley! Nothing. Not a trace of him in Hogsmade or the Three Broomsticks. And the muggle world was just too difficult to search.

If only the tracing charms hadn't fallen. He would have found the brat in a second. He could use a blood ritual, but he lacked the blood of the boy. What to do?

He sat on his chair stroking his beard in search of a solution. His eyes fell on a Gringotts letter. It was early for the usual monthly statement. He opened it cursing in annoyance.

Albus Dulbledore,

The goblin nation found you guilty of theft against the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, having abused your powers as self appointed guardian of one Lord Potter.

The amount of money wrongfully taken, will be withdraw from your personal account. The Phoenix vault will be emptied and closed.

Gringotts will cease all and every business with your person.

Regards,

Ragnok the 50th, King of the Goblin Nation

Fueled with rage, he let his magic take control causing destruction to the newly repaired office. Fawkes flashed away, not wanting to witness his bonded losing his mind. What was he going to do now? He was broke, his pay has headmaster was ridiculous compared to his needs, he had an image to uphold, and only the Potter money granted him that. And the war. The order was mostly founded in the same way. He would have to make the boy change his mind and give him back the money. He had people to bribe too, to make the wizarding world a place like he wanted.

At Grimmauld Place other people received the same letter. Mrs Weasley was indignant at the Potter boy, she took him in her home and was willing to give him her daughter, how dare he take her money away? She deserved that gold!

Ron was of a same mind; the headmaster made him befriend the brat promising him money and fame. And now he had nothing. Hermione was wailing, all the money for her university and the book she bought were gone. They needed to do something and get Harry back under their control.

Charon was still too young to flash all of them so Kieran and Aries opted for shadowing since that method could pass any kind of ward.

Tom was impressed when he saw his son appear that way, along with another boy. The presence of the two other men and the twins did not surprise him so much, his son trusted them after all.

Aries looked around, awed at the place. They were in a wide living room decorated in light shades of green and silver. His eyes landed on the form of Voldemort. He was different from last time he saw him, gone were the snake like features, leaving an handsome man in their place. He could definitely see the resemblance between them now.

Aries was unsure of what to do or say. So he stood there, like a deer caught in headlight.

"Welcome to Slytherin Manor, my son" his deep baritone felt warm and comforting to him.

"Father.." he wasn't sure if it sounded like a question but it was a great achievement it didn't come out as a squeak.

Tom smiled seeing the boy so nervous "Please, make yourselves comfortable" he invited them gesturing to the several armchairs and couches, sitting himself. Aires and Kieran went to a couch on the right of his father armchair, the marauders took two chairs and the twins claimed the couch opposite.

"Is there anything you wish to ask me Aries?" inquired the dark lord after ordering some refreshments from the elf.

"Um.. you look different from.." he was going to say the graveyard but the memory was still too fresh in his mind. And he didn't want to say anything to offend him.

"The ritual was supposed to use blood of the enemy, and you obviously are not one. I understand if you are scared of me after the way I behaved on that occasion."

"How did you" "get back" "your noticeably" "good looks?" asked the twins.

Tom raised an eyebrow at the display. "You would get along with the Lestrange brothers. Always trying to drive people crazy with their twin talk. Anyways, Severus created a potion to restore my appearance."

"So he's loyal to you?" Sirius was happy they decided to not approach the potion master, it could have gone terribly bad if Aries didn't turn out to be Voldemort son.

"Yes. Severus is a dear friend. He was very close to my wife." admitted Tom.

"But he hates me!" Aries protested without thinking

"No, he doesn't. Sev hates the image of James Potter, and you looked too much like him" corrected him his father.

"He's right pup," continued Sirius "we tormented the man all seven years. James was the worst, even if I tried to keep it light, and that's shocking I know, he was set on making Snape life hell. And all because he was obsessed with Lily and she was friends with a snake instead of noticing him"

"Yeah. In fifth year I almost killed Severus during a full moon, James saved him. I was told that Sirius led him there and we had a huge fall out. Only two month later we found out that it was James impersonating Padfoot with a polyjuice potion." admitted Moony.

Harry was shocked to hear that the man he thought his father for the last years, the man everybody talked so highly about, could do something so horrid. Now he could understand why professor Snape was so mean with him.

Seeing Aries lost in thought the twins decided to ask a question of their own "So" "are you" "really evil?"

"Um. Define 'evil'. Am I a dark wizard? Yes, I am. Am I going to kill mindlessly like the last war? No. That was the result of Dumbledore actions. I actually wanted and still want to change our world to be a better place." explained Tom

"How?" spoke Kieran for the first time.

"Equal right for all the creatures, introduction of muggleborns to our world earlier than a few months before school, preparatory schools for them and purebloods, expanding Hogwarts curriculum, improving our economy so that the half of the population won't go back to the muggle world, a not corrupted ministry.. things like that." all the ideas he had would take a day to list, pity Dumbledore was set against any kind of change in their world. Changes that would better it at least.

Aries looked at his father, gathering his courage to ask the question that was tormenting him. "Why did you want to kill me?" he whispered, so low that they barely heard him.

"There was a prophecy about someone who would kill me. Made by that drunk divination teacher of yours. Severus reported it to me as soon as he heard it. Initially I did not care about it, I never believed in this things. But then they killed my wife, and you as I thought. I became lost in pain and desire for vengeance. The children of the prophecy were thought to be the Potter or the Longbottom ones. I started to believe that the death of my family was the beginning of that prediction coming true and I attacked the Potters. It was a stupid thing to do, and I regret it even more knowing I risked to harm my own son." Voldemort tried to keep his voice steady, but he was not sure he did it very well.

"There is a prophecy? I have to kill you?" Aries felt himself panicking. He just found his father, he could not lose him now.

"No, my son. It was just a fake." he reassured him, while sitting beside him and wrapping, for the first time, his son in his arms.

After a few other questions, they decided that they would live there at the manor from now on. Kieran would evict the order from Grimmauld place, as Lord Black he could break the fidelius charm and deny entrance to everyone, the twins too had no intention of going back home with that bunch of backstabbing bigots. Tom had no problem in that, it would help Aries to feel less uncomfortable in the new living arrangements and to adjust to the new life.

Calling for an elf he ordered him to show the guests their bedrooms while he took care of Aries and the other boy.

"I still don't know who you are" he said eyeing the young man wrapped around his son.

"I apologize, my name is Kieran Black, sir" he introduced himself holding out his hand to Voldemort.

"Ah, yes. You look a lot like your father. It was a sad day when Dumbledore killed him" he really liked the boy, Regulus, he was bright and enthusiastic, with a great future in front of him.

They took the stairs to the third floor where the family wing was.

After leaving Kieran to his room, Voldemorto addressed his son "Would you mind if we talked a bit alone before going to your room? There's also someone who you should meet" smiling slightly he waited to see his son reaction.

Aries was conflicted, he really wanted to get to know his father and have a good relationship with him but on the other hand the man attempts to kill him were still fresh in his mind. He bit his bottom lip looking at the other trying to decide. At the end he nodded following him to what looked to be the master bedroom.

Once inside he saw a giant snake coming towards him and wrapping around his legs. He widened his eyes in fear.

"Nagini!" Tom hissed angrily "you're going to ssscare Ariess that way. Releassse him immediately" he ordered glaring at his familiar. The last thing he needed now was her trying to eat his son.

"I'm sssorry massster. I wanted to greet the hatchling.." the snake apologized lowering her head.

"It'ok" Aries hissed lowly and Tom could not help the grin that broke free at hearing his son speaking the language of his ancestors. "What kind of snake is she?"

"She's a magical kind of python. Was that the first time you talked with a snake?" he inquired softly.

"Um? Oh no, I was able to talk to snakes since little, than all the school found out in second year during the dueling club because of that idiot Lockhart. But everyone said it was an evil thing so I didn't do it anymore. Not even in the chamber with the basilisk.."

"You met the basilisk?" she could be quite grumpy when woken, he knew that too well.

"Yeah. Ginny was possessed by.. your diary" he was talking so softly Tom could barely hear him "there was a memory of you.. he tried to kill me using the basilisk"

For the love of Merlin! Even his horcrux tried to kill his son, was that some kind of curse? He rubbed his eyes ready for his wife yelling her lungs out at him.

"Thomas Marvolo Riddle!" there she was, the most lovely woman but when she started to scream at you, you run away "What is the meaning of this?! I don't care if it's your horcrux you're going to destroy that thing! I will not have anything hurt my baby! Am I clear?"She screamed, adding more calmy "And don't look at me that way, I know it's not your fault"

Aries was looking at his mother in amazement. She was so beautiful, he could see that he inherited her emerald eyes; and she was giving the most feared dark lord know in history one hell of a dressing down.

"Oh my baby!" she turned to him "you're so gorgeous my little prince! I'm so happy to see you're safe and with your father. I feared this day would never come between this stubborn man and that manipulative old imbecile. He didn't hurt you did he? I swear if he hurt a single hair of your head I'm going to come back from the dead and curse him with the worst spells in my arsenal!"

Aries found himself smiling. That was what was like to have a mom, who loved you, cared for you and protected you with fangs and claws. If his mom was alive, it would have been perfect. But he wasn't someone to ask for too much, having the possibility to get to know her through a painting and talk with her was enough.

"I'm fine now." he tried to placate her, but that brought on a whole lot of other questions from Tom too. Under the double questioning he gave in and told them everything that happened in his life.

"I'm going to kill them!" roared the dark lord "how dare they lay their filthy hands on my child?"

That was nice too. A protective father ready to kill for him. Well, maybe he could do without the killing but he appreciated the thought.

"You have to torture them before, dear" chirped his mother with an evil glint in her eyes.

"Of course, love. You're right as always" agreed Tom, nodding and planning ways to make them hurt.

After he managed to convince them not to kill anyone, not without some trouble, he proposed to just make tier life hell, that he did not mind.

"Aries, I was thinking that maybe we could invite the Malfoys and Severus tomorrow…" his son looked at him insecure "I promise it will go well, child."

"Fine. Can Kieran and the others be there too?" he asked with hope.

"Of course." he quickly agreed "What exactly is your relationship with the young Black?" he would have some threatening to do if they were together, but he had not seen anything to confirm his suspicions. But the boy was clearly interested in his son, so maybe..

"Um. He's my boyfriend" he stopped seeing an evil glint appear in his father eyes and little hearts in her mother's. Now he was scared. He wanted to still have a boyfriend the following day! "and.. and the test at Gringotts said we have a bond as soul mates. Whatever that means"

'Soul mates? Well that is rare' thought Tom.

"It means that you are destined for each other, and a perfect combination both in soul, mind, body and magic my dear. I'm sure you make a wonderful couple. You need to introduce this young man who stole your heart to mummy as soon as possible." in reality Selena was already planning the wedding and names for the children.

"Down woman. He's too young for that" told her Tom reading her mind. She just pouted not minding Aries confused expression. "It's late, come I'll show you your room"


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you everyone for following the story and for the kind reviews. =)**

**Goldpen, you're right of course. The fact is that in Italy we usually use as speech indicators (or - - for me since I'm lazy) and " " are used mostly for thoughts. I'm used to read with the right indicators in english but for some reasons I didn't think about it while writing, I changed them in all the chapters now. I'm glad you like the story =D **

**Chapter 7**

**-Love of Legend-**

When he woke up Aries found himself on the softest bed he ever slept on. Being too tired to care the previous night, he examined his new room.

The floor was a shining silver marble with emerald green soft rugs here and there. His bed was a big four poster that could house at least four people, on the bedpost there were fine cavings of snakes slithering between the grass, the soft black silk sheets caressed his skin and the pillows were big and soft. The curtains of the bed were tied to the posts so he could see the rest of the room. He swung his legs over the bed and walked around.

A wide window took almost the entirety of a wall leading to a private balcony from where he could see the gardens and woods, there was a wide couch in front of it where he knew he would spend a lot of time.

On the right there was the entry to another room, his private study where the walls were covered in shelves so he could store his books there were an ancient looking desk with a comfortable looking armchair behind and a couple of couches in front of the fireplace. It was done in a soft cream color with little accents of black. Another door led to his walk in wardrobe where, with a flick of his wand, he stored all his clothes that were in the trunk and did the same with the books in the study soon after. The last door led to his bathroom. It was done in marble too, light greens and white were the colors. He could see a big shower a and a pool like tub on one side.

He decided to take a warm shower before going down for breakfast.

Putting on a pair of black trousers and a red button up shirt he remembered his familiars.

"How do I call an elf here?" he thought out loud.

There was a sharp crack and an elf wearing a uniform with the Slytherin crest appeared. "What Dibby can do for young Master?"

"Um, could you go to Black beach in LA and retrieve the animals in the house? And then bring the dragon, falcon and wolf to Kieran please." he asked.

The elf nodded and after a few minutes his familiars were with him. Yoru was excited at the new place and was running around pouncing on invisible things. Vidar on the other hand preferred to curl on the bed and take a nap, same with Charon who went to his perch.

Only after walking around for a few minutes he realized he did not know where the dining room was.

"Are you lost dear?" the voice of his mum greeted him from one of the paintings.

"Yeah. Can you help me mum?" he asked, delighted in being able to finally use the word.

"Of course, prince. Come I'll lead you." she went from painting to painting until they arrived in the right room.

Everybody was already there so he took a seat on the right of his father, who was at the head table reading the paper and making disgusted expressions.

"Morning pup" greeted Sirius opposite to him. He smiled and bade good morning to the others too.

Breakfast went in silence, apart from the twins no one were morning people.

"Anything interesting on the paper?" Kieran asked at the tenth grunt from the man.

"If you deem interesting the idiot Fudge promoting the toad Umbridge to Undersecretary of the Minister…then yes" he was not a morning person, and people's idiocy made it worse.

"That woman? It's ridiculus!" complained Sirius.

"Who is she?" inquired Aries not knowing what was so wrong with her. He did not doubt that the ministry was full of idiots but to deserve such treatment she must have done something particular.

"She's the imbecile bigot who drafted the anti-werewolf legislation that makes impossible for them to find a work and lead a decent life. Of course the mighty Dumbledore was too busy to stop that from happening, sucking his lemon drops and such.. Also she wants to round merpeople and.. don't remember. But knowing the kind maybe she plans to shot them. She despise any kind of half breed, funny thing since she looks like an hybrid toad in pink run over by a truck." Kieran explained in his best 'I know everything but I'm too bored' voice while reading a newspaper from LA. It was still a very sexy voice in Aries opinion.

"Exactly" agreed Tom "nice to see you're not an idiot, too" hell would freeze over before he let an ignorant brat anywhere near his son. The twins laughed out loud at that , they liked Kieran from what they'd seen so far and were happy their little brother had found someone special.

Aries wrinkled his nose, his boyfriend was not an idiot. "So is she on your hit list?"

"Weren't you the one against killing?" Tom arched an eyebrow, still put out that he could not kill the despicable muggles.

Shrugging his shoulders Aries replied calmly "I don't like her" and then got back to his toast.

"Luciuss!"

Said man hurried down the stairs at his wife scream, fearing something bad happened. It was not always that a Malfoy did such things.

They were not the frigid people they portrayed to the public of course, that was just a mask. Like every pureblood they could not be seen as weak and being feared helped keep the gold diggers away.

In the privacy of their house, Lord Malfoy was a caring father and a loving husband. Just as Narcissa was a gentle and motherly woman and Draco was not the spoiled prejudiced brat he portrayed at school.

"Narcissa, what it is?" he asked entering the family living room. Said woman was crying and laughing at the same time while holding a letter close to her chest.

"He's back! He's back!"

"Who is back, Cissy?" he was starting to get worried. His wife was not making any sense.

"Our godson, Luce! He found him! He's alive!" she insisted shoving the letter in his face.

He scowled at the treatment and opened the crumpled piece of paper.

_**Dear Lucius, **_

_**I have great news my friend. Upon returning to the manor Selena revealed that our son is alive. **_

_**Only yesterday, on his birthday he contacted me after finding his real identity. He's here with me now and I would like to invite your family for lunch with us. **_

_**Please extend the invitation to Severus, I know he's most likely holed up in your potion lab. **_

_**Tom Riddle **_

_**P.S. we all have a bad past with Aries so be on your best behavior. The grumpy bat too.**_

The man was confused at the mention of a bad past. Who could the boy have been before?

Leave it to Dumbledore to change his godson identity for his purposes ..

"Oh Fuck!"

"Lucius! Don't swear, it's unbecoming to a Lord." his wife scolded him like she would with their son "And what's the problem? Are you not happy?"

"Of course I'm happy, Cissy dear. I just realized that me and our son were both on very bad terms with Aries in the last years." she did not understand so he supplied "Harry Potter"

She gasped, horrified at the thought that her godson, her best friend Selena's baby, could hate them. She would have to talk with her dragon and knock some sense into him. It was at times like this that she hated the pureblood mask. And Dumbledore, more than usual.

Heading upstairs she went to her son bedroom. He was surely still asleep, being very lazy during summer, but she could pass over that after all he worked hard during school term to have perfect scores.

"Dragon, dear. I need you to wake up." she shook the boy lightly by the shoulder and ordered him to wash and dress, they had important family matters to speak about.

Meanwhile Lucius went in the dungeons to call Severus. His friend always came to the manor during the summer. He tried to be as far away as possible from the manipulative headmaster, who forced him to teach in the school after the first war.

Severus loved Hogwarts even if it was full of bad memories, courtesy of Potter senior, it was a safe haven from home when he was a child. But he absolutely loathed teaching children, as much as he loved potions, he had not the patience to deal with them.

Another reason Severus took refuge with the Malfoys was that after the first war and the trials even if he was acknowledged as a spy for the light, thanks to his perfect acting, his vaults and assets remained blocked by the ministry. No doubt a move of the old man to try and control him.

Severus was a rich man after all, being the only heir to the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Prince. But Prince Manor and vaults remained inaccessible for him. He lived on the profits made by selling his potions and the patents of his inventions. Being a genius came handy in such situations.

Opening the door of the lab he was assaulted by the fumes of the many potions his friend was working on.

"Sev, I need you upstairs. News came from Tom." he told him from the doorway.

"I'm coming, give me a minute"

"So, what are the plans for today?" asked the twins after breakfast. They were all reunited in the family living room, the same where they appeared the day before.

"I'm going for a run, I think" replied Kieran from his armchair, while pulling Aries to sit on his lap.

"Why would you do that?" inquired Sirius, grinning at his blushing godson.

"Because, dear uncle, I like to keep in shape. The reason why English aurors sucks so much is because they are not taught to exercise, and the majority of the purebloods think something like running is below them. They're all a bunch of lazy idiots that will find themselves out of breath after a minute of dueling and let's not talk about their inability to fight without a wand." he criticized.

"So, you know how to fight? Muggle style I mean?" inquired Remus.

"Of course, we are trained in several martial arts and to use any kind of weapon too. My school is very strict about it" he omitted saying that it was not simple exercise, they were all highly trained warriors.

"Cool!" exclaimed the twins "you have" "too teach us" "oh great master!"

"Why don't you come to run with us then?" proposed Aries smiling. He had already started to exercise while in Los Angeles, and luckily he wasn't in a so bad shape. He could keep up with Key while running without problems, but needed to gain some muscle. Then Kieran promised to teach him some martial art suited for him and how to use the weapons they brought. He could not wait to know how to use his katana.

"If you need it" intercepted Tom "the manor has a fully equipped gym. I completely agree with you on the matter staying fit. Just call for an elf and they will show you the way"

"Thank you, sir" he would have to remember going to look at it.

"You can call me Tom. We have guests for lunch so don't be late, son. Now, if you excuse me I have evil paperwork waiting for me." he got up and headed to his office with a resigned expression on his face. Who knew being a dark lord meant paperwork?

"What is so important that you had to drag me away from my potions?" inquired a very grumpy Severus.

"Sev, Draco. I know what you think of the young Potter" started Lucius eyeing the two "forget it!"

Both were going to protest or say something not very nice about the golden boy, but he stopped by raising his hand "no, I'm serious. Tom would be most displeased with you." he stressed "He just found his lost son, who I think may be Potter, and invited us to lunch. I don't want to give my godson an even worse impression than he already has on us."

"Don't be ridiculus, Luc" Severus could not believe it "the Potter brat is.."

"He's not a Potter, Sev. He's the son of Selena, the woman you saw like a sister, and Tom. You need to let go of this hatred towards him" implored the blond. "and even if he wasn't, he didn't do anything to deserve your treatment of him, just because he looks like his father you should not forget he is Lily's son."

"If he is really Aries, as you think, I will forget about it. And even apologize to the boy. Happy now?" yielded the black haired wizard, but still not ready to give up his hatred towards Potter.

"Yes, immensely" he smirked "You too Draco. I know that you're still not happy that he refused your hand in such a way in first year, but he was raised by muggles. I doubt he realized the insult of such an action. And your rivalry is petty and problematic, you should try and play nice" attempting to make him see reason with words was worth a try.

"But father I .."a stern look from said man silenced him. "As you wish father" he obeyed with a resigned sigh. Severus patted his leg in a show of solidarity. They were both on the same boat.

"Oh I can't wait to see Aries! He must be a beautiful boy, with such good looking parents.. maybe he'll let me take him to do some shopping.." she trailed on while the men dutifully nodded without listening to a single word she said, all of them lost in thought.

Draco always wanted to become friends with Harry Potter, having grown up with all his stories it was not a surprising thing. Even with his child mind he knew a lot of these things were invented, but he was still famous. After meeting him he knew he was not how the wizarding world imagined.

The boy was like a puzzle he could not solve, one moment he was a reckless lion and the next you could nearly see him acting like a snake. He was also a good liar, noticed Draco during the years, but there was always that something in his eyes that he could not decipher.

What he really did not understand was how could he accept Weasley's friendship? Never mind the boy was as good as a muggle, but even an idiot could see the weasel was around only for the reflected fame that came with being the best friend of the boy-who-lived. You have to be really naïve not to notice, and Potter was not that bad, was he?

Still, his father wanted him to play nice, not so difficult, without the red head to insult him around scarhead seemed almost bearable.

Severus was conflicted. He had to be civil with Potter. If Aries was really the same boy he tormented in the last four years.

He hated Potter so much. Not only he made his life hell at school, but took away Lily from him.

He was not in love with her, contrary of popular belief on the light side. No, Lily was like a little sister for him, just like Selena.

Having grown up together with the red head girl, they were very close, but house rivalry tried to keep them apart. Where that failed, Potter succeeded.

After six years, Potter made her fall for him, and soon she spent less and less time with him. Even after the incident when he called her a mudblood they remained close, she was understanding because the marauders had been taunting him until seconds before and he was not known for patience.

He regretted her death, more than anything. But as much as he wanted to blame himself for delivering the prophecy to Tom, when he was in his pained state, he knew who was really to blame.

Dumbledore was the one to make the false prophecy, and make sure he listened on the conversation. He was the one that pushed the Potters into hiding, practically drawing a huge target on them.

He loathed the Potter boy only because he looked so much like his father, he never tried to see him any different, he was really blind as to who Harry Potter was. He sighed admitting to himself that either way, he would have to be civil with both Aries and the Potter boy, the two mothers would never forgive him if he did otherwise.

Albus Dumbledore started the day really well. He had his usual cup of tea while reading the last letters and reports. Nothing unusual.

That was until the whole Order of the Phoenix barged in his office. They were all shouting but he could make the words "headquarters" "closed" "twins". Thinking of the worst, being the devil twins involved he casted a silencio on the whole group, leaving only Moody able to talk.

"Now, Alastor my friend would you be so kind to tell me what is the problem?" he inquired before taking one of his laced lemon drops. He felt he would need the calming effect of the draught.

"The house is closed. No one can enter. And the twins cannot be found." he summed up.

"It is not possible. I am the one to hold the fidelius and .." something was missing. He searched in his mind for the tread of magic linked to said charm. He widened his eyes in horror realizing that it was not there anymore. It was impossible! He was powerful enough to hold the magic, the only other option would be that the Lord Black broke it and ordered all of them to be evicted from the house. Sirius would never do it, the man was not even officially Lord of the House, without the ring he couldn't do anything. And he was still loyal to him, completely under his thumb, the idiot would go mad in a matter of weeks inside that house unable to go out, just like he planned before getting rid of him once and for all.

He noticed that along with the twins, Remus and Sirius were missing too. Probably it was just a prank of theirs that in some way managed to interfere with the fidelius charm. He would have to have a serious talk with them, to find out what they did and make sure they knew he was disappointed in them. The grandfatherly act always worked on this idiots.

"I'm sure it is all an armless prank. Go back to your homes, all will go back to normal soon." he reassured his followers while stroking his long beard.

He was starting to lose patience with the pranksters, always creating commotion in the headquarters and during meetings. Maybe he could convince Molly to leave her noisy offspring at the Burrow, and send the wolf to a mission somewhere away from England. Yes, that would work nicely.

In the end both the twins and the marauders joined them running. It was hilarious, with Gred and Forge cracking jokes and Remus making fun of Sirius who complained he was going to die at every step.

"Come on, you lazy mutt! You're not going to die for so little" grinned the wolf, his curse was useful for something at least, great strength and stamina. The animagus was sprawled on the ground at the end after an hour of jogging around the manor.

It was still to take into consideration that the man did not move for twelve years, blocked in a little cell in Azkaban. He would have to follow a strict diet regimen and work hard to get back to a good physical condition.

"How is the shop going?" the green eyed wizard asked, while sitting with in back against a tree. Aries gave his winnings of the tournament to the twins so they could realize they dreams, he hoped it was going well.

"We found a possible location" "for the shop" "but because of the order" "and our mother too" "we could not contact" "the owner yet" they replied in the usual twin talk.

"Maybe we could go together tomorrow" proposed Aries.

"We would love" "for our investor" "to come!" they were also planning of making Aries owner of a share of their shop so it would be great to go together.

"Brilliant. After all I may decide to invest more in your project." he grinned.

"What kind of shop would that be?" inquired Key who was laying on the ground with his head on Aries legs.

"Pranks of course!" the twins plus Aries exclaimed in unison. Sirius grinned at the idea, maybe the marauders could share some of their tricks. He missed playing and inventing pranks.

"What products are you planning on selling?" Remus too was intrigued at the idea. Merlin knows their world needed a good laugh.

"Canary Creams" "Extendable Ears" "Ton-Tongue Toffee" "Love potions" "and we're working on more!" they listed proud of their ideas.

"Sounds promising" chuckled Kieran "pity here in England you're limited with what you can use" he smiled mysteriously and then got up stating he needed a shower.

"May it be that my nephew is a prankster too?" wondered Sirius looking at the other. Aries just shrugged his shoulders and followed the other.

Saying that Aries was nervous when lunch time came was understatement. He was pacing in his room trying to decide what to wear. Should he go casual? Or maybe formal?

"Ssstop pacing around, you're giving me a headache!" snapped Vidar from his spot on the bed."asss if the hyperactive cub wassn't enough" he complained sending a glare at the playing ball of fur.

"Sshe's young. What ssshould I wear?" Aries was reduced to implore his familiar for advice.

"The black trousserss and the emerald shirt. It bringss out your eyesss. Now let me sssleep" he grumbled.

"But what if they..?" "They won't do anything. Your father will curssse them before they even could think of doing ssomething. If not I'll bite them. Now get out of here" smiling Aries put on the clothes suggested and went back downstairs after stroking lovingly the basilisk.

Kieran was already in the living room reading a book seated on the couch when he arrived. He went there and curled up next to his boyfriend who wrapped an arm around him.

"Nervous my little Emerald?" he whispered in his ear making him shiver.

"Yeah. A bit… ok a lot" he rectified after a look from the other. He could not avoid it, Snape and both Malfoys hated him for years. Would a name change make a difference for them?

"Aries.." he started while the boy put his head in the crook of his neck "they don't know you, never did. They saw the golden boy or a replica of their childhood tormentor and nothing else. Now they have a chance to see the real Aries. And I really doubt your godparents would be mean towards you. You told me also that Snape was close friends with your mother" he tried to reason with the insecure boy.

"He was friends with Lily too, but he still treated me like shit." complained the green eyed wizard.

"You're too stubborn for your own good" he smiled while ruffling his little boyfriend's hair "and thinking too much too. No one would let them upset you, love. Don't worry." he lowered his head and kissed him softly trying to calm him and letting him know that he was there for him.

Aries lost himself in the kiss, like always happened. It was like a pleasurable infusion of love, confidence and sense of protection. He would never stop, pity he needed air.

He nestled back on Kieran side with a small smile on his lips. Soon all the others came, waiting for the guests to join them.

The floo flashed green meaning the guests were arriving. One by one the Malfoys and Snape appeared in the living room, cleaning themselves of the ash.

'Here we go' thought Aries taking a deep breath. He hoped nothing bad would happen.


	8. Chapter 8

**After so much time here's the new chapter. I'm sorry it took so long but I had a block and hated everything I managed to write. I hope it's not too bad ^^. **

**I'd like to remind you that I'm italian, so there could be some spelling or grammar mistakes, I checked four times but I could have missed something. **

Upon landing in the living room of Tom's manor, Severus took a careful look around him. There were half of the marauders, not the ones he hated most he was glad to see.

Black was noisy and sided with Potter in all the pranks, but he was aware of the fact that even if he sounded against slytherins he was always trying to calm down the other one.

He saw how he looked longingly at his brother, but probably never did anything because of his house, they would have labeled him as a death eater for sure.

Then there was Lupin, he was the better of the lot, quiet and smart. They studied together with Lily for some time before fifth year, before the wolf tried to kill him. He did not hate the man, it was not his fault what happened, and after overcoming the fear following the incident he worked hard to find a way to control the beast on the full moon.

Lupin was a good man and he did not deserve, like many as him, to suffer so much every month. He hoped his wolfsbane potion would permit the ones affected to be more accepted in society but the ministry had other ideas. They raised the costs of the potion to an absurd level and then approved the anti-werewolf legislations.

That bunch of idiots.

Next he saw the Weasley twins. Not surprising, if Potter was here they were sure to have followed. Unlike their younger brother, they really were loyal to the boy and cared for him. He could admit they were really brilliant. The pranks they pulled were very well thought and difficult pieces of magic. Even in potions he could see the talent. The fact they never joked around in his lab and didn't prank him helped a lot. After their third year they often came to him to talk about existing potions and about the ones they were inventing, managing to interest even him, so much that he gave them permission to use the lab outside of school hours.

On the couch on his right there were two unknown people. One of them was surely Aries, the little one. Yes he had Selena's eyes and Tom features. He seemed utterly nervous, one reason more to think he was Potter indeed. Had he always been so little? He could not think about that now and turned his attention to the young man Aries was curled up against. His looks were familiar but he could not place it.

"Tom, thank you for the invite" greeted Lucius "I'm happy to see that you seem fully recovered, too"

"Thank you, Luc. Narcissa, lovely as always" he said kissing the woman cheek "Severus, Draco. I trust you already know Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and the Weasley twins."

"Of course Tom." replied Snape while nodding to the others.

"Good" the dark lord then motioned for his son to join him. He got up, feeling his legs shaking and came to rest at his father side. "This is Aries, my son and heir" introduced while resting a comforting hand on the boy shoulder.

"Oh, it's so nice to meet you, Aries" Narcissa greeted enthusiastically giving him a light hug.

"Mrs Malfoy.." he was really too nervous to function properly. How should he address them? Were they really glad that he was back? Or it was just a façade to not anger his father?

Kieran sighed. His little Emerald was still afraid, even after their talk. He got up and walked to his side wrapping an arm around the small waist "Maybe we should make clear some things before." he started "As you know Aries was blood adopted by a light family and just found his real identity. The unpleasant part is.. that you were not very nice to him while he was Harry Potter. Now. Are you going to forget about those distasteful habits or will you continue like usual?" he asked while glaring at them as to challenge them to upset the petite boy.

His audience was shocked at his bold actions and at the fierce protectiveness the young man displayed for Aries.

"I can assure you that we have no bad intention towards Aries. He is my godson and I intend to treat him as such if he would let me. We had a bad past but it was because his alliance to Dumbledore, as his golden boy. We wish to leave that in the past." said Lucius trying to placate the man and calm his godson.

"Maybe you should talk of this important stuff in a more comfortable way" suggested Remus from his couch hinting they should take a seat too.

The Malfoys went to occupy a couch of their own, while Severus seated himself next to the werewolf, much to the man's surprise.

No one knew exactly how to dissipate the heavy air that hung in the room, and all felt strangely awkward.

"Oh bloody hell!" exclaimed Selena from her portrait "Sev, Luc apologize for your horrid treatment to my baby immediately. And then try and get to know each other! It isn't so difficult now, is it?" she now had hands on the hips while tapping her foot.

Said men were fast to oblige in her demands, apologizing to the boy. They were sincere about it, Aries could see it and smiled a little thinking that it would not be as bad as he feared.

"Good boys." grinned Selena "now. Someone introduce all those gorgeous men to me" she demanded.

Aries complied seeing they were all his friends. "This is Sirius Black, my dogfather… and Remus Lupin. They are Fred and George Wealsey and this is.." he could not finish because his mother interrupted him.

"Oh I know! You must be Kieran. Prince, I have to praise your good taste, really. You look so good together" she chirped wishing she could hug the life out of his soon to be son in law.

"Don't mind her. She's gone in her own little world" intercepted Tom, grateful he could not be at the receiving hand of her wife displeasure. Physically at least.

"It's a pleasure to meet you madam." Kieran replied smiling charmingly.

"Down lad. Don't' want to make dark lord and son jealous now, believe me" grinned Sirius. Tom snorted at the thought while Aries blushed a little.

Kieran just laughed "No dear uncle. As beautiful as the lady is, I play for the other team" he squeezed his love shoulder a little as to not say aloud that he only had eyes for him. He knew Aries would understand.

"Pity, all the good ones are gay. I was lucky to meet my handsome dark lord" she sighed remembering the days when Tom courted her.

"Oy! That's not true. I'm absolutely straight and handsome too." pouted Sirius.

"With a little meat on your bones maybe, you should work on it" objected Selena. The twins laughed out loud at that. Aries mother was great. They would not be surprised if the boy took his pranking streak from her.

"Why did you call Sirius your uncle?" demanded Narcissa curious about the young man. No one had introduced him yet, they realized.

"Cause he's Regulus son, Cissy." Explained Sirius. The Malfoys and Severus were all good friends with the man, but they thought the boy died at young age for some kind of illness, at least that was what Reg told them before being killed. Now they could see that it was just a plot to save his son from Dumbledore. They were happy to see him alive and well.

Suddenly a female scream was heard in the room. They all turned to look at Narcissa, who was eyeing something slithering on the floor. It was not the first time they saw Nagini, so they wondered what the problem was.

"Sssstupid cub, if you leave me alone with her again I'm gonna eat her. Do I make myssself clear?"

It was clearly a snake, but Tom had no other animal. The bright blue scales appeared to them, while the breathtaking snake made his way between the armchairs. He widened his eyes recognizing the breed. "A.. basilisk?" he whispered

"I'm sorry" apologized Aries while motioning the deadly creature to go to him "I left Vidar in my room. I don't know how he got out."

"Why, I grew handsss of course" snapped the snake. Tom snickered a little, the snake had a temper.

"Oi no need to be mean. Now lay down and stay silent" Aries told him in English, Vidar would understand either way.

"Aries. Where did you find a basilisk?" asked Lucius. He was as curious as the others if not more.

"Um. He's my familiar, I found him in a shop at the Circus Ring, in LA" he answered while petting the now napping snake.

"A familiar basilisk? This is rare." pondered Remus. Not many could afford such a companion, they were deadly because of their stare and venom and could grow to incredible sizes too. It was not surprising that only a parseltongue could control them. But these days such breeds of snakes were quite rare to find.

"So you have two familiars?"mused Sirius. "he has a royal phoenix too." he said to the others benefit.

"Nope, three" Kieran corrected him "the fire panther cub is still upstairs" everybody was impressed at the thought that Aires could have such powerful familiars. Such creatures were not seen in England either, because of the legislations against them most had been killed and the remaining ones did not bother with wizards. They were attracted only to the most powerful mages.

"Um, it's not so interesting really." he tried to divert the attention from himself "Key has three familiars too" and it worked now everyone was staring at his boyfriend, amazed to have not one but two mages in the room. Tom was incredibly powerful too, but to have this number of familiars at such a young age it meant that the boys growing up would become arch mages at least, if not more.

"What are your familiars?" asked Draco, talking for the first time.

"A shadow wolf, a water dragon and a magical falcon" he replied not bothered to be used as a bait to escape from attention by his boyfriend.

Before anyone could comment on that an elf appeared announcing that lunch was ready, so they went to eat.

During the meal Aries agreed to tell them what happened to him. He tried to omit his childhood, but he was not good at lying when people seemed so concerned on his behalf. And they were family in the end, he really wanted to have a good relationship with them so lying was out of question.

His story wiped away all the remaining belief that he could be anything like they thought. Aries

was not Dumbledore's golden boy nor he was like James Potter at all. He was an abused, scared and clueless child when he entered Hogwarts, and then he was used by the headmaster for his little plays of heroism, only to be treated like shit if the wizarding world did not like what he was doing.

Severus was horrified at discovering the child had bindings on his magical core too. No wonder he had the concentration of a troll and could not do magic swiftly, the only exception being defence against the dark arts.

"Is your wand still working for you?" inquired softly. If not it meant the boy was really powerful, phoenix feathers were not the core of the weak.

"No, Kieran took me to this wand crafter in LA so I could have my new wand" Tom's respect for the young man grew a bit at hearing that. "I still have some problems, cause I put too much power in the spells. But I'm getting better" he smiled, not even realizing that he just admitted of being one of the most powerful wizards on heart.

"Do you think you need a little tutoring, son?" he would be glad to help him, or have someone else do it if he was really busy. He would not have his son doing everything alone anymore.

"Um, no.. I.." he really did not want to bother his father or someone else tutor him, but he could use a little help maybe. Kieran was already wasting enough time teaching him after all.

"I am already teaching him some bit of magic not very legal in England. But he could learn more and faster if he had others to teach him." Kieran knew how Aries thought, and even if he understood from where it came from, it was still stupid. He had so much power and talent, it shouldn't be wasted. "For example, while I'm good at potions I'm no potion master yet. Maybe if Master Snape" addressing the man by his title "had a little time to tutor Aries I'm sure he would get better in no time, and they could work on their relationship too." he proposed. As much as he hated thinking of having less time to spend with his Emerald, it would be good for the little wizard.

"I'm not opposed to the idea, as long as Aries is going to work seriously and hard" replied Severus, glad to have a chance to adjust things with the boy. He wondered if he had the same talent as his father in potions. Only one way to find out.

"I could teach him transfiguration!" exclaimed Sirius already excited at the prospect of working with his godson.

"We take charms!" joined in the twins. They were extremely gifted in the subject and would make it interesting for Aries.

Lucius too volunteered to teach him Arithmancy, and Remus took defense. Aries could not believe they were all available to tutor him. Adults in his life were not known to be helpful or concerned for his wellbeing in the past. That was a good change.

"Maybe Draco and me.. we could study together if he wants.. I mean for the new stuff.. I doubt he needs revising" he proposed, stuttering a little. He was not good at social things, and they had been rivals for years, maybe the blond did not want to be friends.

"I'd like that" smiled Draco. He liked this new Harry.. ehm Aries. All the Gryffindor façade was gone, leaving behind a shy and insecure boy, if not incredibly cute. Even with a deadly snake wrapped around his shoulders. They would have grown up like brothers if not for Dumbledore manipulations, and maybe it was not too late to try and have that kind of relationship between them.

The rest of the day passed making small talk or reading something.

Aries was going to his room following a lively dinner, exhausted after everything, when Kieran stopped him. They went to the young man bedroom and settled on the bed.

"I know you're tired Emerald, but you can't skip meditation. You already did it last night, and it's not good" he reprimanded him "now, I want you to find your magical core tonight. Close your eyes and take deep breaths. Calm all your emotions. Imagine the waves in the sea slowly disappearing as you let go of exhaustion, nervousness, leaving behind a flat surface of water." he instructed.

Aires breathing was now slow and even, his body relaxed in his position sitting cross legged on the bed. He could almost smell the sea and ear the seagulls in the distance.

"Very good" he continued keeping his voice to a low comforting tone "now go back inside your body. You can see your mind, all the thoughts and memories floating around. Search for strands of magic."

His memories were all on display in his mind, playing themselves in the portraits that contained them. Flashes of colour appeared here and there, his emotions, and words floated everywhere like pieces of thoughts. Then he saw them. Strands of magic of bright colors, some thicker than others, all pulsing as if alive.

He approached the nearest to him, it was a light green and pulsating happily. He touched it and images of his father flashed before his eyes. It was his bond with him, still a light colour because they were just reunited and not comfortable with each other yet, but it was thick meaning Aries already looked up to his father and trusted him.

Curious he neared the others. There was a red one for Sirius, blue for Remus, twin orange strands intertwined for Fred and George. New shy strands were there for the Malfoys and Severus.

The biggest and brightest of them all was the strand that represented the bond with Kieran. It was a deep gold and humming sending him feelings of love, comfort and pride. He wondered it was the same for everyone or if their strand was like that because they were soul mates. He sent back at Key a pulse of happiness and then got back to searching his magical core.

Taking a good look around him he noticed that while one end of the strands vanished, probably the part leading to the other person, the other descended. He followed the strands that slowly became braided together. After a bit he was blinded by a bright light. It resembled an aurora of colors. And the strands all dived in the mass of light and colours. It was his magical core.

There were all kind of colours, all mixed with each other, but it was confused and chaotic. Almost like his mind but a little worse.

Suddenly he was yanked back into reality. His breathing was a little heavier now but he was proud of himself. If finally managed to reach his magical core!

"By your smile I take it you did it?" Kieran grinned, already knowing Aries could do it, he just needed a little guidance.

"Yeah! It was great." he recounted all he saw and then asked "It is normal for my magical core to look like that?" it seemed like a great vortex ready to swallow everything, it was really a breathtaking sight.

"Yes and no. It is normal for you because your magic has just been released after fifteen years being restricted, it's like it exploded and now it is untamable. A normal core is more well ordered and calm." Kieran explained him calmly. He got up searching for something within his library. "with occlumency you will order your mind, all your emotions and memories, it will help greatly, the rest will come on his own. Your magic just needs to.. stir a bit after so much time." he smiled.

"Ok" he took the book Key was handing him, silently asking what it was.

"This is a manual that I used to learn. It will help you create your mindscape as you like it more and store your thoughts. When you're finished with it I'm sure you will have nice occlumency barriers and protections." he smiled sitting back next to Aries.

Seeing the other was nearly falling asleep he nudged him "You should go to bed it you're tired Emerald." he was not surprised at that, he got so worked up for the meeting.

"Don't wanna" he mumbled while cuddling on his side. Key chuckled, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend he slowly lowered them in a laying position. With a lazy flick of his hand they were clad in their pjs, or just soft pants in his case.

"Comfortable?" Kieran asked seeing Aries moving around to find the right position. He was already fast asleep he noticed, and in the end practically on top of him. He had his head on Kieran shoulder, an arm across his chest and a leg over his one. Smiling he kissed lightly Aries lips and then got to sleep himself.

In the living room downstairs Severus, Lucius and the two marauders were still talking. The twins excused themselves retiring to their bedroom, probably going to work on some of their new pranks for the shop. The dark lord too had gone to his study wanting to start planning their new goals in the war immediately. There were after all a lot of changes to make in their society.

"I never thought I would see the day were two lions like you passed to the dark side" commented Severus while swirling the whiskey in his glass. After all Sirius had run away from his family because they were dark to take refuge with Potter.

True, the Black were also a bit too much crazy, even for his tastes, with all their muggle hunting and overly strict behavior even in the privacy of their home. Regulus and Narcissa told them enough stories about their childhoods.

Walburga Black and Cygnus too were both heartless bastards. How could a parent be so insensitive and careless about his child?

"Well, suddenly this dark side doesn't seem so dark anymore" replied calmly Sirius. He always resented his brother for joining the death eaters, thinking them all evil, but now that he knew the true goals of the dark lord he felt really proud of his little brother. His only regret was not being able to apologize to him for the way he treated him and tell him he loved him. If only there was a portrait of him, it was not the same but still something.

"Yeah, at least if the dark lord wants you dead, he kills you without too much trouble. Dumbledore would just manipulate you to your early death while achieving his purposes." complained Remus. Too many times he had been sent to talk with the werewolves of his behalf nearly risking to be killed, and always coming back full of injuries.

He had been stupid to just do has ordered, he knew the wolves would never side with the light, not even if promised of equal rights because they knew it would have been just lies. Maybe the dark would not give them rights either, but the dark wizards respected them enough to treat them as human beings and not just monsters, as he found out that afternoon.

He was so blinded by his gratitude towards the man for letting him attend Hogwarts even with his curse, that he failed to question his demands. That would not happen again.

"Tom is not like that. There was a period, after the death of Selena that he killed anything in sight that's true. But in general he just curses you if you do something incredibly stupid, death is for traitors and spies. After a good dose of torture of course. But with his inner circle and trusted ones he is more laid back, he listen to our opinions and advices. I presume you will fall in that category seeing Aries looks at you like another set of godparents." Lucius mused.

They would be great addictions to their ranks. Lupin was very smart, having probably read all the books in the school library and writing school texts himself. He was calm and reflective, able to see a situation from every point of view. His werewolf strength was useful too.

Black on the other hand was more a man of action, fast thinking and great dueling abilities. Yes, Tom would value their opinions in times to come.

"How curious" a woman with floor length white air was admiring the view from her office windows. A big tome on her right was glowing in its stand. "It seems that the time has come. Yes the heirs will be reunited under the same sky. Soon you will shine with the powers of them both" she said caressing a tapestry lovingly "We will have some work to do, he's quite late after all."

A knock at the door interrupted her reflections, followed by a huge man entering. "You called for me Madam?" he asked in a low dangerous voice.

"Yes. Yes I did. I need you to summon the guardians. I have a mission for them." the red eyes of the woman bright in the shadows of the room as she turned to look at the man. She dismissed him with a wave of her hand so he could obey the order and then went to her desk to write something.

"A great era is beginning. I can already feel your magic humming in happiness. Soon.. soon"

**So.. here's the lunch with the Malfoys and the grumpy bat.. Tell me what do you think about it and if you have some ideas on what you would like to read, tell me and I will consider them. ^^**

**Anyway, thank you to all that followed my ff or left a review ^-^**

**I just want to answer "Constructive"'s review and his constructive criticism : fist of all.. ''character bashing is a no-no. It's almost always a sign of bad fanfiction, especially when there's an OC" says who? I've read different ff with bashing and OC's, both in english and italian, and they were quite good. If you don't like them it's a different matter. You think my ff is bad? Just don't read it then. Second. I know it's TOM Marvolo Riddle and not Thomas. But guess what? it's a fan fiction. Meaning that if for some reason I want to call him Thomas, I will.. It's like calling Harry, Hadrian or Harrison or similar. Maybe my Tom didn't like his name cause it sounded too muggle and changed it after Hogwarts to Thomas! **


	9. Chapter 9

**I didn't expect all this new favorites and followers, thank you so much everyone! =)**

**I'm happy to see that so many people like my story, mostly because it's the first time I try to write something (not only in english) and .. Well.. I was kind of scared no one would read it or like it. It's really great to see I was wrong though XP**

**I appreciated your advices in the reviews and your support. They really make me wanna write more, so keep on leaving your thoughts on the story, cause more reviews means more chapters.**

**Sooo… here's the new chapter. It's quite longer than the others, hope you like it.**

**(answers to reviews are at the bottom of the page)**

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Kieran woke up finding Aries snuggled up to him. He looked so peaceful and beautiful. Caressing his cheek he wondered how he came to fall for this boy so hard and so fast.

He already knew Aries had the strange ability to melt anyone's heart, he witnessed it last night, but that was different.

He prided himself in being a cold hearted bastard after all. With his friends he was anything like that of course, but earning his trust and friendship was nearly impossible.

His aunt raised him to be the perfect pureblood lord, his cold mask was unbreakable. Years of training taught him to never show his true feelings in public, they could be your downfall; never show your thoughts, it will give you the upper hand and keep others on their toes; never show your true alliances and always have a backup plan; gather information on anyone you know, blackmail material could always come in hand and you can avoid untrustworthy people; spread your business as much as you can, etc..

These were the ground rules of his life, never he did otherwise. His friends too, as much as they were close to him, they did not know the real Kieran completely. He never let go of his mask all the way.

Then Aries came in is life and everything changed. Form the first moment. He was not able to keep his aloof exterior and stay away from the little wizard.

Maybe it was the pull of the soul bond, or maybe it was because of the breathtaking emerald eyes that dazzled him at first sight.

It was strange, not being able to keep his mask in front of someone but at the same time it was comforting, knowing there was someone who would know the real him, without restrictions and maybe, he hoped, get to love him for just him.

Not like those idiots at school who wanted to be the next lady Black or lord consort, those who wanted him for his good looks or powers.

No. Aries, if he ever would fall in love with him, would love him for the right reasons. Maybe he was running too much with his thoughts but it never happened to him. Thinking of the future with someone at his side, of being in love and being loved back.

He soon found himself fantasizing about courting Aries in a near future, proposing and then getting married, having children… His little Emerald would look so beautiful full with child, he thought, his silver eyes sparkling with warmth.

Feeling Aries start stirring next to him, he shook his head trying to get himself rid of this thoughts before they affected him in a more physical way. He didn't need to scare his boyfriend now.

"You're thinking too hard." mumbled Aries from the crook of his neck where he was hiding his face from the little light that got through the curtains.

"What?" he asked laughing. He loved the cute faces Aries made when asleep or half asleep.

"You woke me up." he readjusted himself so he was on laying on his side using Key's chest as a pillow "your strand, in my mind. It was .. glowing like crazy. What were you thinking about?" he asked looking at him with his huge green eyes.

"Some things." Aries pinched his side not happy with the answer "You. I was thinking about you." he admitted.

The young wizard could feel himself smiling. He pressed a kiss over his boyfriend heart feeling soon after the muscled arms tightening their hold on him.

Their cuddling session was stopped a little after by the abrupt entrance of the Dark Lord in the room. He looked ready to kill, given the slightest reason.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, voice eerily calm. Aires found himself wishing his father would shout and scream, it would be a lot less scary.

Really, the glowing blood red eyes were creepy, now he understood why his followers became such cowards if their lord was angry.

"F-father? W-what are .." he tried to ask, stuttering, scared he did something wrong to anger the man. Would he change his mind and send him away? He just found his family he didn't want to lose it so soon.

He was so immersed in his worrying thoughts that he nearly missed the man speaking.

"What do you think you're doing to my son? You piece of filth?" Tom nearly screamed, starting to lose his composure.

Aries blinked taken aback. Then blinked again. 'What?'

He tried to understand why his father would react that way. It's not like they were doing anything, just cuddling. Ok, they shared a bed and slept together but it was not that big deal. He slept with Kieran lots of times in the last days.

Then he got it. They were both wearing only the pants of their pyjamas, for Key it was normal and he ditched the shirt cause it was too hot last night. Though to someone else, namely Tom, it would seem like they were.. erm.. naked under the sheets.

He felt himself blushing at the mere thought of what his father believed was happening or happened.

Yup, definitely blushing.

"FATHER!" he yelped getting quickly out of bed, and throwing the covers on the floor on the process. Maybe if the man saw with his eyes that they were indeed clothed he would be more prone to listen instead of killing his boyfriend on sight.

"We weren't doing anything. Now please stop pointing your wand at Key!" he added a puppy look for good measure. Maybe it worked with him too and it was worth a try.

Tom blinked, surprised that he was wrong having jumped to conclusions and at the force of the pleading eyes of his son. He lowered his wand. Not because he didn't want to punish the insolent Black, even if it was for only sharing a bed with his child.

No, it was because he was a sucker for big emerald doe eyes, something he would deny vehemently. His son was so much like his mother.. he shook his head.

"Get dressed, I'll see you at breakfast" he told his child, while ruffling his black hair and sending a glare to the other young man, who remained silent the whole time, probably understanding it was better if they dealt with the situation between father and son.

He would have to have a serious talk with him, soon. Very soon, he thought while leaving the bedroom.

Aries went to his usual run with Key, adding some push ups and sit ups after. Then he exercised with his spell casting, it was coming along quite well now he was pleased to see.

He didn't make everything explode anymore because of too much power and silent casting was getting easier once he understood that magic was not in the words or in the wand movements but in the intention of the caster. He still needed wand movements, but they were less noticeable than normal.

Dragging himself to his room he went to take a warm shower to help soothe his aching muscles. Even if he was his boyfriend, Kieran was strict and merciless. He pushed him to his limits, encouraging him to get better, not letting him stop until he did it well.

And "well" meant perfection for Kieran, he did not accept anything less. It was not only for him, Key set the same standards for himself if not worse.

He admired such dedication in the man, that unwavering strength of mind and confidence in his abilities. He envied it a little too.

While washing himself he noticed he was filling out a bit. He was not skin and bones like before, good eating habits and the nutrient potions given by the goblins helped much in that along with the daily workout. While he did have some muscles, mainly from quidditch and chores at the Dursleys, it was nothing like Key.

His boyfriend seemed one of those perfect carved statues, a real Adonis, with his lean physique and those hard muscles. He pictured in his mind how he looked just moments before, with little drops of sweat that run along his six pack, the muscles of his back flexing at every movement and he felt arousal run through him. "Damn this teenage hormones" he cursed while quickly taking care of his problem.

While dressing his eyes fell on the books in his library, it took all the wall and was quite full already. He really felt happy that so many people were available to help him with his studies but he still felt a bit guilty of taking their free time from them. Maybe he could study ahead when he was not training with someone.

"Dibby!" he called and soon the little elf was there waiting for instructions "I have an important task for you. I need you, and all the elves that you need, to copy all of the books in my possession. Start with the ones in the vaults, a goblin at Gringotts will tell which ones then have them give you a list of my properties and copy the libraries in there too." the creature looked ecstatic at the thought of doing such great work for his little master.

"Dibby will do it right away, little master. Where Dibby place books after?" asked eager to get to work.

"In the library compartment of my trunk. I will leave it open for you. Could you please divide the books for argument, and insert them in the master book I have there?"

"Yes, little master. Dibby will do a good job. Does master need anything else?" Aries shook his head dismissing the elf.

He was sure that he could learn a lot more that way. He already noticed that he could read faster and understand things better since he removed the bindings, meditating helped his concentration and with his eidetic memory he would remember everything without problem. Once his occlumency was good enough he could also store the knowledge in his mind . He knew he would need it soon.

Dumbledore and his chickens would not leave him alone, and he would need to be able to defend himself from everything. He did not understand why the old man was so obsessed with him.

Sure he was a Lord of many houses, two of them were of the founders, and another was the Le Fay, but he doubted Dumbledore knew of the last one.

What could he gain from his two lordships? Control over Hogwarts? Not likely.. he could not take his titles from him in case of death even if he were to leave it in a will, the founders lordships could be claimed only by blood descendants.

And the school control and property could not be transferred to anyone, the headmaster was just that, he could not make changes even if he had the felling Dumbledore did it anyway, while the heir instead could administer the school as he liked with the ministry unable to interfere.

Was his money he wanted? He thought he should leave it alone for now or he would get a headache from all the possibilities his mind could come up with.

He knew Dumbledore was manipulative, dangerous and obsessed with him; it was enough for now.

Heading for breakfast Aries was nearly sent face first to the ground by the running twins.

"We're sorry!" "Gotta run!" they said while looking behind their shoulders scared of something.

He wondered what did they do this time and to whom. He hoped it was not his father, he doubted the man would take a prank with a good laugh. More like a well aimed cruciatus. But sure the twins knew better than try something so dangerous. Right?

"Get back here! You devil twins! I swear I'm gonna kill you!"

Sirius. Whatever it was he was sure that the prank was hilarious. His dogfather usually took everything quite good, ready to give back as much as he received.

"Shut up Remus! I'm not gonna get out of my room like that! I refuse!" maybe he should go and take a look. Calming his godfather would also be a good thing, all that shouting was sure to irritate someone. Not knowing where exactly the room was he followed Sirius voice.

Peeking inside the bedroom by the small gap in the door, he could not help but fall in a fit of laughter. The man was ridiculous!

"Not you too! Don't laugh!" whined the dog animagus who now sported bright blond ringlets on his head kept in place by a big neon orange bonnet hat and was followed around a fluffy cuddly pink sheep.

"I.. I'm sorry Paddy.. but.. you.." he was laughing so much he couldn't even talk. He fell to the ground clutching his stomach that was beginning to hurt.

"What is happening here?" Draco heard the commotion from his room and went to see. He did not expect to find a nearly suffocating Aries on the floor and his uncle looking like a shepherdess. He lacked only the outfit.

"You will find Draco that getting bored is almost impossible when you live with pranksters. Or Sirius in general." smiled Lupin looking at the boys. Draco was now helping Aries back to his feet with an amused grin on his face. He doubted he could keep his mask on for much if they got like that.

"Thanks Draco." Aries smiled "Come on Siri. You can't stay in your room till the prank finish."

"I can and I will" he huffed. He had a reputation to uphold. Going around resembling the idiot Lockhart was not something he wanted.

"Fine. You asked for it." the boy sighed then took out his wand as fast as a flash "Pietrificus totalus!" Sirius found himself unable to move before even realizing he had gone for his wand. Thank Merlin he was past the explosion phase.

"Nice spell casting, cub." complimented Remus, then took upon himself to levitate the unmoving Sirius to the dining room where the other were likely waiting for them, the little sheep following behind.

Breakfast was a quiet affair after the twins had been convinced to return Sirius to normal. And make the sheep disappear before Vidar or Nagini came to feast on it.

That of course was not to last. Suddenly Aries was attacked by a while missile of feathers.

"Hedwig! Stop, I'm sorry girl, please?!" she continued pecking at his head and hands "I'll give you tons of letters to deliver!" at that she stopped her assault, perching on the back of his chair pleased with him.

"I take your owl did not take very kindly being left behind." chuckled Tom seeing his son so scared of the little thing. It was an amusing sight.

"Hey look!" "she has today's" "daily prophet!" the twins said pointing to her leg where the newspaper was tied.

"I wonder why. I don't read the thing since second year" complained Aries while taking it.

Written on the front page in capital letters was the reason. They must have sent him a copy as peace offering for all the shit they had written about him over the years.

**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE: LORD OF THE LIGHT OR CLOSET DARK LORD?**

**Dear readers, this reported is utterly shocked at the information found on our esteemed headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Order of Merlin first class, etc.**

**After much digging for information about our young savior, trying to understand who exactly this boy is and if he ever did anything to deserve the malice showed to him several times, I came upon something unexpected.**

**First of all, the will of the Potters has never been read. So, based on what direction the headmaster decided where to leave Harry? And with what authority? **

**He named himself magical guardian of the young hero, that's how, regardless of his parents' wishes. His rightful guardian should have been Sirius Orion Black, auror extraordinaire accused of betraying the Potters. But is that true? **

**Mr. Black was named Harry's godfather by James Potter, with whom he was brothers in all but blood, as many defined them. How could Sirius betray his brother and godson? And for what?**

**That is not known, dear readers, because Sirius Black was never put on trial. **

**Yes, you read exactly that. **

**A pureblood heir of an old family was shipped to Azkaban only based on assumptions. It's not so strange that the man decided after twelve years of possible wrong incarceration to escape that horrible place. **

**Everybody knew how the Lord James Potter was near Dumbledore, working side by side in their supposed secret vigilante organization. Is it possible that Dumbledore knew something about the fact but stayed silent for his own purposes? **

**Back to young Harry, he was hid behind blood wards, illegal if I may add, by the headmaster himself. I still don't know where or with whom exactly but I promise I will get to the end of this story. **

**There is much manipulations and wrongdoings in the life of Albus Dumbledore, and that is only the beginning. **

**Christiane Havery**

"And I thought all the reporters of the Prophet were imbeciles, like Skeeter" commented Aries with a very slytherin smirk on his lips.

"Havery was a slytherin, she graduated two years ago if I'm not mistaken" mused Severus "she was one of the few snakes who supported you during the Chamber happenings."

"Her words were and I quote: you're all a bunch of idiots if you think someone as gentle and cute as Harry could go around petrifying students like some kind of psycho. Get your heads out of your arses!" supplied Draco, imitating the girls voice too.

They all laughed at that, even Aries, he would have never thought a snake could take his side like that. Maybe he could thank the girl in some way.

"I know that look, you're plotting something pup. Share!" Sirius was too attentive when he wanted.

"Nope, you'll know soon enough and I promise it will be good" he smirked again sending chills on the spines of those who never saw that look on his face. It meant trouble. Great humiliating trouble.

"There's another article too on the front page." noticed Remus "On Dumbledore."

**DUMBLEDORE STEALING FROM SAVIOR!**

**A press release from the goblin of Gringotts arrived in our offices yesterday informing us of horrible conduct of Albus Dumbledore in the last fifteen years. **

**The self appointed magical guardian of Harry Potter abused of his role and powers!**

**He did in fact withdrawn large sums of galleons from the Potter vaults several times each year, for his own use, for the founding of the vigilante group called Order of the Phoenix and for paying someone to look after the savior for him.**

**This reporter cannot understand how one could steal from an orphan child, let alone from the savior of the wizarding world! **

**The king of goblins prohibited Dumbledore any kind of business with their bank, a too light punishment according to some. The goblin as you probably know hate any kind of theft so it is not a surprise they refuse to serve Dumbledore as a customer. **

**What is shocking is that they didn't go for worse measures. The Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter is after all considered a goblin friend since Charlus Potter I gifted them with the land to build their bank. Is it possible that young Harry Potter asked them to refrain from a more radical and bloody sentence? **

**Christiane Havery **

"The old man is in for a really unpleasant surprise this morning!" laughed Sirius. That would surely help in discrediting the haughty and mighty Dumbledore.

"I would give anything to see his face while reading the articles" commented Lucius with barely suppressed glee.

"You may be satisfied my friend. I have to see him for breakfast with the other order members at the burrow. I'll be sure to bring pensieve memories when I get back" smirked Severus from his seat.

"So now they meet at the burrow. I nearly pity them, the thing could fall on their heads at any moment" stated George, or was it Fred, surprising everyone. "What?"

"We may have" "lived there for" "all our lives" "but that doesn't mean that" "we liked it" they explained together.

"What are you two planning to do now exactly?" his question was met by twin blank stares."I mean that even if you are of age, you have another year of school before you can be fully recognized as adults so your parents still have a say in what you do or don't do. As a matter of fact, they could even petition the ministry to declare you unable to look after yourselves or to be a danger to the others with the help of Dumbledore and then you would be as good as normal minors." Tom explained calmly.

The twins were shocked to find that. They thought that once seventeen they would be free, instead now they were met with a huge problem.

"You could ask someone you trust to be your guardian for the next year" supplied Lucius, he was starting to like the red heads and wanted to help them.

"There are not many people we can trust at the moment" started one of them.

"Right. We would ask professor Snape, but we don't want to give away his position as a spy in the order." continued the other surprising the potion master with his revelation.

He knew that the twins respected his talent as a master but from there to trust him to be their guardian.. he was touched. A hint of a smile appeared on his lips, only the twins and Aries noted it.

"Professor Lupin would be another option. But the ministry would never agree since he is a werewolf." the first continued with the options, his twin could be heard muttering about "imbeciles" referring to the ministry.

"Sirius is not an option, he is still a convicted escapee from Azkaban. But it would be hilarious seeing their faces if we applied for that"

"And no offence Mr Malfoy but we don't know you enough yet to ask you something like that." concluded together. "So we're back at the beginning of the problem"

Severus could see how they were really feeling, even behind their smiling exterior. They were angry at the ministry, irritated at not being free of their ties with the family, sad at the thought of possibly leaving Aries' side, afraid of what their parents and Dumbledore would do to them.

He really felt bad, he would have loved to be their guardian, they were bright and smart lads, but he could not give away his position. He still was the only spy in the order ranks, seeing that Sirius and Remus were unable to do it, they would try to kill the man at first sight.

What he never understood was how could Molly treat the two like they were little more than trash in comparison to the other children, how could she not see the intelligence in their eyes and the will to succeed and be the best in what they liked. Just because they were pranksters didn't mean they should be underestimated.

There was a time when Severus dreamed of a family of his own, a dream nearly impossible now with his dangerous life as a spy and not very friendly behavior, he doubted there was someone crazy enough to want to be with him. Still, if he had children he would have liked someone like the twins.

His order medallion vibrated in his pocket meaning it was time of the meeting. He would think of a solution for the boys later. Getting up he excused himself preparing his mind and ears for an hour at least of yelling and idiocy.

Aries accosted the twins after breakfast seeing they were feeling down. He wanted to help but did not know how to do it. His father and the others would find a solution for sure, he did not doubt that.

"Hey. I wondered if maybe you were up to go to Diagon Alley and see this place for the shop together." he inquired smiling slightly trying to get their minds away from unpleasant thoughts.

"Sure!" "we'd like that" "very much" "little brother" they looked already a little better at the idea of realizing their dream, while they sandwiched him in a double hug like usual.

"I'm not sure if I like the idea of you three going there alone" worry could be heard in Tom's voice. He just found his son and didn't want to risk losing him again to Dumbledore.

"I'm going with them. If it is of any reassurance for you" interjected Kieran. "And maybe Remus and his dog Padfoot could come with us. The old mutt needs a bit of fresh air after all" he added with a smirk to his uncle.

"Who are you calling old, little brat?" he asked taking an offended pose. What he received was a wandless stinging hex from Kieran and a glare for calling him brat.

Of course no one noticed the lack of a wand in his hand, apart from the dark lord who was finding himself liking the boy more and more. Kieran Black was proving to be a very good match for his son. Maybe he could let Selena fantasize a bit more of wedding and children for their son, the young man was definitely a keeper.

Since they agreed to go to Diagon Alley around 10 to talk with the owner of the place, Aries decided to go to his room and do a bit of reading.

He choose a book about healing for beginners, he already knew his fair share of things on the subject since he found himself in the infirmary at school more than humanly possible. Maybe only Remus surpassed his record of stays with Madam Pomfrey.

The woman developed over the years a certain affection for him and often she would tell him about healing to help him pass the time, also letting him borrow some of her books to read.

He never had the chance to practice healing spells, mostly because he was not able to remember incantations and wand movements before because of the bindings that affected his memory and concentration. On a good side he remembered all the anatomy books he read at the public library in Surrey during the summer when he took refuge there from his cousin and his gang.

The book proved to be really interesting and before he knew it he was finished, never before he was able to read a book in two hours only and remember it word for word. It was a really good feeling. Also it was time to go to the Alley with the others.

He took Yoru in his arms, deciding to take her with him and went downstairs. Kieran joined him halfway down and kissed him sweetly unable to resist seeing his Emerald so proud of himself for reading and remembering such a difficult book.

They were interrupted by the sudden bark of a dog. Of course Sirius could not let them snog happily while he was alone like a.. well like a dog.

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**LadyDebbs: Mi fa molto piacere che ti piaccia la mia storia =) devo ammettere che sono stata sorpresa di trovare una recensione lasciata da una connazionale, ma forse è perché tutte le persone che conosco riescono a malapena a chiedere l'ora in inglese, tanto meno leggere una ff scritta in lingua XP Anche io amo un Harry Serpeverde e intelligente, l'ingenuità è ok per i primi anni ma poi dovrebbe darsi una svegliata secondo me. Spero che il nuovo capitolo ti sia piaciuto ^-^**

**(I'm really glad you like my story =) I have to admit I was surprised to find a review from a fellow Italian, but maybe it's because every person I know is barely able to ask the time in english, let alone read a ff in here XD I love a Slytherin and smart Harry too, naivety is good for the first years but then he ought to wake up a bit I think. Hope you liked the new chapter )**

**Mizzrazz72: You're right, Dumbles is in big trouble. And bribing a goblin is not going to get him brownie points with the bank.**

**Goldpen: I know I shouldn't worry about crazy reviewers, but it's my first story and I'm still unsure about it (let's not mention that it took me hours to find the courage to send the first chapters *cough*) reading that so many people like it helps a lot though, thank you =) ****About possible conflicts between Aries and Snape/Malfoys.. Not everything will be just perfect between them, don't worry. ****But consider the fact that Severus thought about Aries' mother as a little sister and he's "friends" with Tom; without the Potter factor and his wish to be close to the boy, he will count to ten every time before even thinking of speaking for fear of ruining his chances (and being crucioed by Tom). ****Addiction, additions.. Oops XD maybe you can take it as a little spoiler. Who knows maybe some death eater will end up addicted to one of our marauders! *winks***

**Kingstonavery: Thank you so much, or better, Grazie mille =)**

**Siriusblackkay: I didn't think of that, so I followed you're advice and added it. It's just a little scene but I couldn't resist even if the chapter was already quite long. =)**

**Vladimir Mithrander: thank you for the kind review, hope you liked the new chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you to all that put my story between their favorites and alerts. It's really great to see so many people like what I'm writing.. I mean.. 200 Followers! I can't believe my eyes! XD**

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Severus appareted in front of the Burrow and he could already hear the noise coming from within. He massaged his temples invoking Salazar to give him patience to deal with those morons.

Inside it was even worse than he expected. The younger weasels and the know-it-all were there too, probably the old coot wanted them to attend the meeting trying to gather information about where Harry could be from their years of spying on the young man.

He was really disgusted with the three of them. Those backstabbing greedy idiots did not deserve the friendship of such a kind heart like Aries.

He should be the last to talk about that but after seeing the boy without the memory of James Potter in the way to obscure his mind and alter his judgment, even if he had to pinch himself quite a lot to stop the automatic responses and nasty comments towards his honorary godson, he was ready to admit that he was a really smart child with a gentle heart.

A child that had been led through dangerous adventures because the damned old coot wanted to test him, a child that had been thrust into the wizarding world without any kind of knowledge and who did not know how to deal with his fame.

More often than not, he was sure that Harry acted like people expected him to, and not how he wanted to. He really hoped he would be able to redeem himself of all the bad things he said to the boy and start a new relationship. Selena would have wanted them to be like uncle and nephew after all, and he did not want to disappoint her.

"Good morning, Severus. Come sit and eat a little, you're always so thin" insufferable woman she was. Molly was always trying to shove food down someone's throat, it was not her business if he ate or decided to starve himself. He went to seat as far away as possible from the mass of idiots refusing to touch the greasy food. Had they never heard of healthy food?

Soon Dumbledore and the few missing members came.

"Thank you for coming here, my friends. Unfortunately our headquarters are still unavailable due to a prank played by the twins with Remus and Sirius I fear. You have to be understandable though, young Sirius still need time to adjust to the life outside of Azkaban"

Severus snorted at the thought, the mutt was perfectly fine, maybe a bit crazier than before, but he had nothing to adjust to.

"And Remus for his part, he is so happy to have back one of his childhood friends that he is giving him too much leeway with his pranks. And we all know how careless the twins can be.."

He clenched his hands. The bastard could tell all he wanted on the mutt and the wolf, they were grown men able to take care of themselves, but he could not say anything like that about his twins.

Oh Merlin. He just referred at them as his twins. He was doomed, now that he admitted it to himself that he thought of the boys like sons he had no choice but find a way to keep them with him or he would be obsessed with that for the rest of his life.

"So, Thank you to Arthur and Molly for lending us their house for our meetings." he clapped his hands, not followed by the others too interested in the food on the table.

"The reason we are all here is because Harry Potter is missing as you all know by now and it is of the utmost importance that we find him as soon as possible. It would be a huge blow to the light side if he was found and captured by a death eater.."

Merlin, the man loved to hear himself talk. Severus rolled his eyes at all the useless talk of the man, why he didn't get to the point already?

"Do any of you have any information to share with us? Severus?"

He was not surprised to be the first to be interrogated by their leader. He looked around at all the expectant eyes glued to him.

"Nothing. The dark lord retired to a secret location to recover his magic from the ritual during the third task. There was no meeting yet." he informed them with a monotone voice. He would much rather be in his potion lab at the moment, instead of being surrounded by those people with the intelligence of an hamster.

And really! Did anyone teach the weasel boy some manners at the table? He was disgusting to see.

"I see. But on the bright side, they don't have Harry otherwise Voldemort would have called a meeting right away. He is insane after all. Any of you can report hearing or seeing Harry somewhere? No? Such a pity." and here it was the grandfatherly persona showing them his disappointment.

"Ronald, Hermione. This year, after we find young Harry I want you to stay with him all the time and report to me everything you hear. He could have some problems, wanting to leave his family and all, and I'm sure I will be able to help him and give him proper guidance" weasel and know-it-all seemed so smug at being given the task of spying on their supposed friend.

"And Ginevra, you should really show Harry your feelings dear, he would be happy knowing about it"

Sure, Aries would be ecstatic knowing a gold digger little bitch would be stalking him once back at Hogwarts.

"Albus! What about the letters from them?" Molly was surely talking about the goblins and her lack of money, she was panicked he was glad to see but her shrill voice was hurting his ears.

Finally came the moment he was waiting for since leaving Slytherin manor. Minerva came running from the floo clutching the newspaper in her hand.

What followed was really hilarious. The old coot went white, then red and back to white with a green tinge to it. He looked like he was going to puke at the end.

As for the rest of the order they were divided. Some were disgusted at his actions, and others just could not believe the paper would write such things about the great Dumbledore.

The meeting for the joke shop went splendidly. The owner, a kind old man, gave them the building for very little since he wanted to leave England as soon as possible to be reunited with his daughter. The place would be quite big after a few renovations, there were a work room for the inventing part of the job and a large storeroom in the back. The best thing was that it came with a flat above the shop where the twins could decide to live in the future or it could be their study of sorts.

The twins could be seen already talking of works to do, things to sell and people to employ. Aries was happy that after the not so good morning for them, they were back to their cheerful selves.

And most of all he could not wait to work with them, it was already made clear that he would be a co-owner of the shop and the twins were not going to change idea. He did not mind since it was his intention from the beginning to invest in the project and maybe help a little with pranks ideas and development.

He didn't have much chances to play pranks at school, with the fact that he was viewed as a savior with all the shit that came with that, and having for friends a know-it- all obsessed with rules and an idiot who thought only with his stomach made it impossible for him. He would have liked to work with the twins on something but Ron was always trying to monopolize his attention, making it difficult to make other friends too.

They decided to go together to the new restaurant that opened in one of the side alleys to have lunch and celebrate the beginning of what would be the realization of a dream for the twins.

Sirius was a bit annoyed that he had to play the part of the dog and eat in a bowl instead of drinking a good firewhiskey and join the party, but anything was better than being locked in Grimmauld Place with those idiots.

Once inside they noticed Neville sitting with Luna at one of the more secluded tables. They seemed to be talking about something serious if the dark expression on their faces was anything to go by.

"Maybe they read the prophet" supposed Remus. The twins decided to go straight for the two.

"Hello!" "How are you" "This fine morning?" they greeted them grinning at their luck.

Now they didn't have to send letters but could talk directly to them. Aries still didn't know of their plan to recruit more people but it didn't matter. Nev e Luna considered Aries a real important friend and would side with him either way once they found out all the truth.

"Hello Fred, George" that was taken by them as an invite to sit at the table, dragging there all the others too. "Um. Good morning professor Lupin."

"Neville, you can just call me Remus. I'm not your professor anymore" the kind man smiled seeing the boy, he looked much like Frank at his age, still a little chubby before he gained muscles growing up.

"Hello, the nargles told me you would be there today. Is King Basilisk treating you well?" he didn't know how, but Luna seemed to know everything. Maybe she had seer blood and hid the thing acting loony.

"Yes Lu, he's treating me well. But how do you know who I am?" asking would not hurt, even if the chances of having an answer that made sense were quite slim. Neville seated at her side was curious too, mostly because he had no idea of whom the two strangers were and was too polite to ask right away.

"Because I have eyes to see of course." she replied with a mysterious smile on her face. He did expect nothing less by her but she hinted of possibly being a seer.

Taking pity of Neville who still looked clueless he spoke "Nev, It's me, Harry.." the boy's eyes widened noticeably, but he waited for him to continue before asking questions "my real name is Aries Riddle, I've only been adopted by the Potters." he stopped looking at Kieran asking silently to cast a silencing bubble before he revealed more.

He told them everything, they were few of the people who never turned their backs on him during his years at Hogwarts and always being good friends, he just regretted not spending more time with them because of the not so good friends.

Luna listened to everything calmly, probably already knowing everything or quite, while petting the panther cub that was napping on her lap.

Neville for his part looked furious and ready to hex the old coot for good. "How dared that manipulative bastard to do something like that? To one of the old blood too!? I hope he will rot in Azkaban.." well, it seemed that he had quite a backbone, he just needed a little nudge to show it.

"Calm down, Nev. He's gonna pay, of that you can be sure. He's done messing with my life, and my father too went wild when I told him of all the things the headmaster had done to me during school. What is shocking is that even Malfoy, both of them actually, and Snape got furious." confessed Aries, still not believing the men reactions.

"So, now we're on the dark side I presume.." mused the usually shy boy, waiting for Aires to confirm. "Don't look at me like that. We're friends and there's more. The Potter and the Longbottom families have been allies for centuries. You may not be a Potter by birth, but I'm gonna stay at you side either way." by the tone of his voice he could tell that Neville was not going to be convinced otherwise.

"If you say it like that.. I'm happy to have you at my side guys." smiled Aries relieved to know that some of his friends really cared about him, and not only his money and fame.

They ate together and talked of various things, deciding to get together in the week end to define the twins idea of recruiting more people in a more suitable place.

After that they made a quick stop at Gringotts to register their business recognizing the three of them as owners of the joke shop and apply for all the permits needed to start and made some renovations in the building, it would take much less time than going to the ministry.

They found out that they did not need any permission for the works since a lot of the land where Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley were located was owned by the Potters, the first, and the Dragonov the second. The ministry dealt with the authorizations for starting a business, but anything else went to the Lords of the families to approve.

Upon leaving the bank they decided to split. The twins went to the apothecary for potions ingredients since they were getting short on some things most used for their pranks; Remus wanted to take a look at the bookstore along with Kieran while Aries, after much convincing armed with puppy eyes, was allowed to go run an errand on his own on condition he took Padfoot with him. He left Yoru with Kieran and run away before they could change idea.

Grinning evilly he made his way over the office of the Daily Prophet, with a barking dog trailing behind. Sirius should have known Aries was up to something, he was his godson after all.

Stopping briefly in a shadowed corned he applied a glamour in himself to appear like the old Harry Potter "Did it work Paddy? I've never done it before.." Sirius barked and nodded his head, surprised the boy could perform such a good spell since it was above fifth year material.

They entered the offices heading straight to the secretary in the reception hall. "Good morning. I would like to speak with Miss Havery" the girl stopped polishing her nails to look at him, probably ready to send him away but stopping with her mouth wide open.

Before she could scream at the entire alley he was there he continued "I wish to remain unseen. I trust I can count on your discretion, miss? It would be a real pity sending a formal complain to the owner of the paper.." now she looked angry and ready to use her claws "oh, wait. I don't need that since I own the 60% of that trash you call paper." humiliated and ready to cry she pointed towards the office he needed. It was at the end of the corridor so they took their time to get there.

"Hey Paddy.. remind me to write Gringotts and have them fire that useless witch and send a letter to the rest of the staff. Things are gonna change in here" Sirius wagged his tail, happy with the news. It was high time that the piece of trash started to write like a newspaper should.

Aries knocked on the office door and entered without waiting for someone to answer. "I apologize for the rudeness but I did not want to be seen by that hideous woman that goes by the name of Skeeter" he said adding a charming smile while looking at the woman studying her.

Christiane Havery was a good looking witch, not too tall with long reddish brown hair, gentle features and intelligent eyes. He had no doubt that she was a slytherin at school, you could sense ambition and cunning all around her.

"That is not a problem Mr. Potter. Please make yourself comfortable" she greeted him motioning for an armchair in front of her desk "Is there something I can do for you?"

"As a matter of fact yes. I read your articles in this morning paper. I'm quite .. pleased about that" for a moment the girl looked nervous, but at his revelation she felt proud of herself. "I have many information for your articles. If you are interested, that is."

Christiane's eyes sparkled at the proposition "Of course I'm interested!" she could not refrain from exclaiming feeling embarrassed soon after.

Aries chuckled "It's nice to see so much enthusiasm. You see Christiane, can I call you that?" at her nod he continued "I have many plans for this newspaper, since I just found out I own it, and for the articles you could write. I have every intention of making you the main reporter of this business." at these words he knew the woman would do anything he asked of her. He quite liked this power he could wield to make people do to what he wanted.

"What do you have in mind for those articles?" she asked eager to get to work.

"A set of interviews" she did not seemed surprised at that but changed expression as he continued to talk "with myself, Sirius Black, and other people I know. You will have also written material to prove my statements."

"This.. this is.. ehm.. when would you like to start Mr. Potter?" she felt like fainting at the thought of interviewing not only the savior but also Black. Today was definitely her lucky day. Rita would be green with envy when she'll find out.

"Fisrt of all, I'm Aries Riddle. No questions." he raised his hand to stop the flow that she sure was to ask "I will explain that part later in time. For now you can work on that, my friends are waiting for me and I really can't stay." he left some papers on the desk and went away after biding her a good day.

They stopped in the same corner as before so Aries could dispel the glamour before going back to the others.

In a shadowed office the white haired woman was waiting patiently while making plans in her mind for the following days. She had so much to do and so little time. A knock at the door stopped her musings, it was the same bulky man she called for the night before.

"Madam, the guardians are there waiting for you" he informed her. She nodded to him gesturing to make them enter.

A group of people came in one by one getting in line before her desk. They were clad in black uniforms, composed by combat trousers, a tight shirt, combat boots, long dragon hide trench coat and masks to hide their faces, they all had dangerous looking weapons on their persons ready for use.

The one at the head of the line made a step forward before addressing the woman "Madam. What do you require of us?"

"I have a mission for you, Wolf. It is of the utmost importance and urgency" she started "the name of the second heir just appeared on the book." the guardians made no visible move at that but were really surprised at the revelation.

"Your mission" she continued "is finding the second heir and bring him there, so he can be prepared for what is to come" she took a good look around seeing that someone was missing. She did not like disrespect and even less irresponsible people. Still, it was not like him to miss a summon. "Where is Dragon? He is the leader and he did not come? Why?" she demanded. He better have a good excuse for that. The mission affected him the most.

"Madam" another one stepped forward from the line "Dragon is currently abroad. We did not have any contact with him since he left. And he did not answer our calls."

"Do you think he is in trouble?" inquired the woman. That was the last thing they needed now, the plan was too important.

"No, Madam. We would have known if he was in danger" a female replied.

"Fine. That is the location of the second heir. My eagle is already on the way with a missive. If you meet Dragon, bring him up to date. Now go and don't fail." she ordered with a powerful voice.

The guardian disappeared in a cloud of smoke ready for a new mission.

Once back home Aries had his first lessons with Snape. All in all it was a good experience, Severus was incredibly strict but with such a dangerous subject he did not expect anything less, and he was not worse than Kieran luckily. Once he had an interested student in front of him, the potion master revealed himself to be a really good teacher, he answered any question Aries had and gave him advices here and there.

For his part, Severus too was surprised. The child was better than he thought. There were two possible reasons for that, or Kieran was damn good at potions and gave Aries a perfect tutoring, or Aries was good on his own and did not show it during class because of flying ingredients and an easily upset know-it-all if anyone was better than her. He assumed it was a bit of both at the end.

Aries, upon finishing their lesson was happy to realize that maybe with a little time he could come to see the man like the uncle he would have been if he grew up with his father. His mom would be pleased to hear that.

After that it was arithmancy with Lucius, the man wanted him to use his name and he found it was a good idea, it felt more familiar and did not remind him of their past encounters.

Aries never took the subject at school, he was not even sure to know what it was exactly, so it would be more difficult than the other lessons but he would work hard. He did not want to disappoint his father, or Kieran or any of the others really.

"Arithmancy is a magical discipline that studies the magical properties of numbers" Lucius started explaining, assuming the boy did not take the class following instead the weasel to an easy O like divination "that includes predicting the future with numbers and numerology. It is also used in the process of creating new spells, but that is really advanced material. "

It sounded interesting, surely more than reading tea cups or glass balls. And spell crafting? Brilliant.

The hour passed fast so after a quick bite from the kitchens he went to find Key.

The young man was in the training room practicing some martial arts. Aries did not mind seeing his boyfriend shirtless while working his muscles, but he would feel incredibly uncomfortable staring at him, even if he was sure Key wouldn't mind.

He decided to summon a book from his room and read while waiting for the other to finish. He opted for the occlumency manual Kieran gave him the night before.

Upon opening it he saw the name of the author and couldn't believe his eyes.

It was an original book written by Rowena Ravenclaw!

All her works were thought lost since the line died and no one could gain access to her vault at the bank, much less to her manor. How did Kieran get his hands on such a priceless artifact? He also gave it to him, now he would be afraid to ruin it every time he touched the book.

He started to read, holding it with reverence. The first step was give his mindscape the appearance he like most, it could be a house, a castle, a library, anything he wanted.

He thought about it. Weeks ago he would have chosen Hogwarts without a doubt, but now he was not so sure. In the end he decided for Slytherin Manor, he felt safe there and it was his home now.

Picturing it in his mind he started to apply the image to his mindscape, adding every little detail he could think of, from the little carvings on the doors and furniture to the flowers in each garden. He did quite a good job, but he soon found it was a tiring work and parts of the manor were missing since he didn't explore everything yet.

Opening his eyes he found himself seated between Kieran legs, with the man arms wrapped around his middle. He would have to remember that while meditating or in his mindscape he was vulnerable.

"How is it going?" Key asked from behind him while resting his head on Aries shoulder.

"Quite good, but it's tiring" admitted the younger wizard a little put out he was not able to do more.

"I assure you that you're dong incredibly good, Emerald. You can ask anyone and they will tell you that they were not able to change their mindscape before at least a month of meditating, that is after finding their magical cores" Kieran was not only praising him to make him happy, but he was telling the truth, it was time Aries recognized his talents without underestimating himself at every minute thinking what he did was not enough.

Aries blushed, not only because not used to being praised, but also because it was Kieran specifically doing it. The heat that the gray eyed man emanated from behind him contributed too.

Without warning said man shadowed them to a little secluded place in the gardens of the manor. They stayed there just kissing, reveling in the presence of the other, for a few hours before going back inside to the library and read something snuggled together on the couch with Yoru and Ebony sitting near them begging to be petted by their bonded wizards.

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**Hope you liked the chapter! Let me know what you think and what you would like to see in this story =) **

**Also, from now on I'm probably going to update once a week.  
**

**Yana5 : anyone could be the twins' guardian in theory, but they don't know or trust them either.**

**Stefanialilly : mi fa piacere leggere che la mia storia ti piace. La scena con Voldemort è stata un suggerimento di un lettore e sono felice di averlo aggiunto, non ci avevo pensato inizialmente. Non succede spesso di vederlo nelle vesti di padre protettivo e affettuoso ed è un peccato**

**(I'm happy to know you like my story. The scene with Voldemort was a reader's suggestion and I'm glad I wrote it, I didn't think about it in the beginning. It's not often that you can see him as a protective and affectionate father and it's a pity.**

**Vladimir Mithrander : you're right, writing in a second language it's not always easy, though I find it easier than speaking (being shy sucks .). My english isn't perfect yet, but writing this story is helping me improve I think =). The weather is.. Cold. And I hate the cold almost as much as I hate the summer heat. And it isn't even snowing yet =(**

**Saturnblue: first of all, thank you for the review. I think every story needs a little mystery, otherwise they wouldn't be as interesting. I like an Harry who isn't naive and doesn't let himself be manipulated, or at least that figures it out at a certain point. Lucius is the one person who I thought would see past the golden boy persona and knock some sense into Severus and Draco, he is a politician and a calculating man after all, and he values family above all.. it would have been stupid if he let them be with the risk of ruining not only his relationship with his godson but his place beside the Dark Lord in jeopardy. Aries will have the support of a select few in all houses, but like in the books the student body believes what is written and like a bunch of sheep they don't know how to think with their own heads. The teaching stuff failed big time with him, maybe they will learn from their mistakes, maybe not.. Aries and Kieran relationship will grow slowly, I never understood the stories when the couple barely gets together and they immediately jump in the bed.**

**Siriusblackkay: I .. Wow.. Thank you so much =D. I think I read your review four times and I still can't stop smiling. It makes me really happy knowing that people like my story and that I'm doing a good job writing it. I swear, it's my first attempt at writing a story, and me being me, I couldn't do it in italian but skipped directly to english XD I understand what you mean, more than once I started reading a ff, thinking the plot was good and then it was so horribly written that I had to stop and leave. What's worse it's that they were writing in their own language. Makes me even more confident in my english writing skills,ahahha. Anyway, hope you liked the new chapter. **

**AngelicReaper0012: Thank you very much =). For your idea, I already have plans for original characters, but the "bosom hug of death" sounds perfect for someone else that will show later on XP.**

**Katsy17 , The Founder, Supernatural Believer, Lupinesence: thank you for your reviews, I hope you liked the last chapter =)**


	11. Chapter 11

Fred and George could not sleep. The thought of having to go back to their family plagued their mind. They didn't want to go back there in a house full of backstabbing people, the only ones they still considered family were Bill and Charlie, but they both were abroad and could not take them in. They needed a guardian or something else to escape that situation.

Dumbledore would surely take advantage of their state, if declared minors, to have them tell him anything they knew about Aries.

Being used for the order or inventing things for them was out of question, they would never help them, and either way people considered them just idiotic pranksters.

Very few people could see the real work and genius behind their creations. It was not an easy thing to invent potions, spells and magical objects, not everybody could do it while the two of them started doing it at thirteen.

Feeling the need of the other comfort, they decided to sleep in the same bed. Or at least try to sleep. Aries did a good job during the day distracting them from their fears, but now in the dark of their room those demons were back to haunt them. There was no illusion that their parents would just leave them alone and the possibility of losing their freedom terrorized them.

Trying to calm themselves, they hugged each other. It was never a good thing if they lost control of their magic because of emotions, it could be dangerous, not only for others but for them too. It seemed to happen more than usual now as they grew older.

Fred and George knew what that meant, but could do nothing about it, they just had to wait and pray it would come soon.

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During dinner Remus had noticed the overly pensive mood Severus was in and wanted to check if everything was alright. Knocking on the man's door he waited for permission to enter.

"Lupin. What are you doing here?" inquired Severus not expecting someone at such an hour, much less the wolf.

"You seemed troubled and I wanted to know if you were okay. Maybe I can help" suddenly Remus thought it was not a good idea coming. The man was looking at him in a way that made him feel intimidated. Of what he did not know, it was difficult for him feeling like that since his wolf was quite the dominating creature.

"Yes. Maybe you can help me" motioning for him to enter Severus went back to sit at his desk, books scattered all over the surface. He sat down himself, waiting for the black haired wizard to talk, knowing better than to insist.

"I'm trying to find a way to help the twins. I can't just take them in myself without compromising my position." Snape revealed with a tired sigh.

Now it was clear to Remus the reason for the strange behavior of the other. He could see how much the man was fond of the two boys, even if he wouldn't admit it for anything.

"You could take a page from Dumbledore's book" he suggested.

Of course he had been too vague, if the mix between confused and disgusted expression, at the mention of the man, was anything to go by.

"I mean, that you could blood adopt them and Lucius could help you creating new identities for them as well as documents of their past." he explained better.

Severus was now thinking he was an idiot. He was a potion master, how could he not think of using a potion like that? It would solve the problem, that is if the twins wanted to be adopted by someone like him. Either way, they could be adopted by anyone they choose. He would brew the potion for them and be sure that the ritual went well.

"I would do it myself, since I care very much for them. But the ministry could still take them away, because of my condition" admitted Remus smiling sadly.

"That is a really good idea Lupin. I don't how it didn't came to my mind. Now, we just need to ask them what they want to do." sighed Severus while closing all the books he was consulting moments before.

"You could call me Remus, you know. You did years ago" he said softly. He missed his tentative friendship with the dark man; but he could not blame him, he did after all nearly kill him during that damned full moon.

"Stop blaming yourself!" snapped Severus seeing the expression on his face "It was not your fault, but Potter's. You were not yourself and I don't blame you" continued more softly, not used to comforting people, not counting his little snakes that is.

Remus was shocked to hear that from the raven haired man, and happy too. It was rare for someone to see him as anything other than the mindless monster he became on the full moon.

* * *

The cloaked figures appeared at the border of a forest, just a little away from the wards that surrounded the place. Not knowing what to expect they prepared to fight, removing their cloaks and reading their weapons.

Their faces were now hidden by black masks, each one had different coloured lines forming the image of animals on one side.

Their leader for the mission for example had a white wolf on his mask. He made a gesture for one of them to came near him "What can you tell me of the wards, Eagle?" a petite female answered his command and after several wand movements and incantations she turned to him.

"They're old, nearly as much as the ones at the Academy. It is impossible to break them, but we'll be able to get inside using our technique."

"Cobra, how many people do you sense inside the place?" he had no intention to fail the mission. They had to get the second heir at all costs, but an open fight could be dangerous, they wanted him unharmed.

"Ten people, Wolf. All in the upper floors, second and third specifically" a deep voice reported from behind.

Wolf made a signal them and in a cloud of smoke they disappeared ready to complete the mission as soon as the prearranged time came.

* * *

Aries and Draco were engaging in a game of chess to pass the time, since it was still early for them to go to sleep and were bored. Tom, Lucius, Kieran and Sirius instead were discussing some politics.

The crack typical of an elf appearing stopped them. "Mippy is sorry to disturb, Master. But big birdie delivered letter for little Master." she said while going to Aries to give him the post "Mippy already checked for portkeys or dangerous things, little Master. Letter is safe to read."

"Um, thank you" he was really glad those elves were treated well and didn't burst into tears every time he thanked them.

The letter seemed to be on fine parchment, on the front of the envelope there was a peculiar crest showing a roaring gold dragon and a black silverish nundu. He was going to open it to see what it was about when some kind of alarm started ringing in the manor.

The men all got to their feet wands in hand, ready to defend themselves and the younger boys. The twins, along with Severus and Remus ran towards them, being separated would leave them vulnerable to the enemies.

All were on edge waiting for something to happen when smoke appeared from a corner of the room followed by masked people, who attacked right away, sending several stunning hexes and knives at them.

They were to stunned to react immediately. The wards were impenetrable, Tom made sure of that himself after what happened to Selena. Also attacking with weapons was not usual in Britain so most of them did not know how to react.

Kieran took matters in his hands. He casted a powerful shield in front of them stopping both hexes and knives before leaping forward. He dodged a blade and kicked a bulky man in the head, before punching in the stomach the one that tried to slice him sending him on the floor.

Other three were sent against the wall with a move of his hand and blocked there by stone manacles growing from it.

Aries watched everything in a mix of awe and fear. His Key looked deadly and unstoppable while he caught a couple of flying knives in his hands sending them back at the female, blocking her on the floor with her weapons impaling her clothes to the ground. He swiftly caught in a full body bind other two attackers, and broke one's knee incapacitating him with a well placed kick.

At the end only a man with a mask showing a wolf remained. Kieran went for him, grabbing that one from his neck and holding him up so that his feet didn't touch the ground.

What happened next shocked them more than the last two minutes of fighting.

"What the fuck is the meaning of that? You better answer me now, Wolf. Or I swear I'm gonna kick your arse so much that your grandkids are gonna feel it!" Kieran roared in fury. His eyes looked like swirling silver pools and his face was set on an impassible mask, magic crackled around him visible to the naked eye.

The man clawed at his hand, trying to breath before he could even think of replying.

Key let go of him, watching him taking big gulps of air on the ground. "I want an answer. NOW!" he pressed.

One of the females blocked against the wall, with a red fox on her mask replied to him, scared he would do more damage "We're on a mission, we have to take the second heir to her."

That seemed to anger Kieran further. "You what? She can't send you on missions without my approval, you should know better than that." he reprimanded the group.

"Alpha, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there, and we could not contact you" Wolf said once being able to speak, it was a miracle his neck wasn't too hurt.

"You're right to be sorry" he snapped. With a wave of his hand the ones blocked were freed "heal the ones injured and then I want a full explanation" ordered them before turning to the other who were still watching him with shocked faces.

Aries run forward, hugging him for dear life. He was glad Kieran didn't have even a scratch on his person, but seeing him nearly sliced by blades more than once freaked him out.

"Shh, I'm fine. Don't worry, my Emerald" whispered Key while rubbing shooting circles on his boyfriend back. He could feel the masked people looking at him weirded out by his actions.

"What the fuck happened here?" asked Sirius "Cause I had the impression of being watching one of those cool martial arts muggle movies just now" he said scratching his head and pouting after Moony hit him for making stupid remarks.

For his part Tom was irritated that not only someone was able to pass Slytherin wards but because no one was explaining what happened in his living room minutes ago. He was pleased too, his son boyfriend was not only magically powerful, but also able to protect him with any means from any kind of situation. Those masked people seemed to be his followers or something like that, too. But why had they attacked them? Now, if they just would talk and end his wait.

"That was" "so cool!" "Say, Kieran" "are you some" "kind of" "dark lord wannabe?" the twins were excited and started bouncing all round the young man.

"Oooh, seems ol'Voldie has some competition" chuckled Sirius, gaining another swat on the head from Moony and a deadly glare from said dark lord who didn't like to be called in such a way, much less being defined old.

Ignoring both the twins and the mutt Severus asked "What is that Aries?" pointing to the crumpled piece of parchment still in his hand. All turned to look at it, remembering about the letter delivered only seconds before the attack.

"You should open it, son. Since Kieran seems to have everything under control" suggested Tom, directing a look at the young man that screamed 'I want answers'.

"Um, ok" he let go of his boyfriend, still remaining within the comfort of the other arms and opened the letter.

It was written in a fine calligraphy, on top there was the same crest of the wax seal with the name of a place under it. Seeing all the curious faces he decided to read it aloud.

_**AVALON ACADEMY OF MAGIC **_

_**Headmistress Madam Lamia **_

_**Dear Mr. Riddle,**_

_**You are officially invited to attend our prestigious Avalon Academy of Magic. Please confirm your acceptance by pressing your wand on the red seal in the bottom. If it is not your wish to join us press on the black seal and your memory of this will be removed. **_

_**Upon acceptance a member of our staff will come to you to answer any question and guide you. **_

_**Enclosed you will find a list of subjects and one with all the necessary books and equipment, follow the instruction to select your chosen classes. **_

_**Term begins on September 1, we await your decision no later than 48 hours from the opening of this letter. **_

_**Yours sincerely, **_

_**Madam Lamia**_

Lucius was on the verge of fainting "The legendary Avalon Academy really exist?".

The others didn't seem faring better than him, at least the ones that knew what they were talking about.

Aries and the twins did not understand what the matter was. It was just a simple letter from a school.

"What's the deal? It's just a school? Right?" he asked looking from his father, who looked both immensely proud of him for some reason and shocked, to Kieran who seemed almost calm.

"It's not just a school pup!" exclaimed Sirius "It's legendary that school! It is rumored that it was founded by Merlin and Morgana!" he was waving his arms wildly now and nearly hitting Severus who glared making him cower behind the werewolf.

"It is thought legendary because no one can apply to the school, and there are no known students from there." continued Remus awed at the notion that his cub had been invited. "It is a great opportunity for you"

"Really? But why such an important school would invite me? And why now that I'm going to be a fifth year?" Aries did not understand, as much as he wanted to go there if only to be far away from Dumbledore, he was still confused. It was an important school that.

"Emerald, maybe I can explain more about it." interfered Kieran. They all looked at him as if asking why should he know more than them about it. "I am a student of Avalon." he revealed. "and having been a prefect I'm used to dealing with new students." he motioned for everybody to seat since it could take some time, depending on how many questions they had. He made the masked people sit too, he would deal with them later.

"Avalon Academy of Magic is located, as the name suggest, on the isle of Avalon. No one can find it apart from the teaching stuff and students, both old and new. It was founded, way before your Hogwarts, by Merlin Ambrosius and Morgana Le Fay. Their wish was to teach magic and other arts to all that manifested the gift, human and creatures alike, without distinctions.

Among her students the Academy can count Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. They took their idea of school from there, but decided to make it for humans only, mostly because even if great wizards they weren't able to make the Britain magical community fully understand magical creatures and their cultures, also wizards usually don't like being showed upon by other creatures.

Anyway, all the students and staff are made swear an oath to not reveal the existence nor the secrets of the Academy." he stopped waiting for any questions.

"So, if Hogwarts is inspired from your academy, is it divided in houses too?" asked Lucius.

"No. That was all their idea. At Avalon we believe that houses divide and antagonize students. We are divided by years, seeing also that the biggest number of student per year is around twelve. Each year is given the name of a magical creature to represent them and it stays with them until they graduate. We have competitions inside the academy but, be it quidditch or dueling, the rivalry never goes above certain limits." he really did not understand the purpose of dividing students and put one against another just because of a silly house membership.

"I always wanted to remove the division at Hogwarts, one of the reasons the old coot accused me of being a dark lord when I wanted to be just a politician." commented Tom.

"I see. Anyway, the students are divided by year as I said. They all have a wide dormitories, it includes a common room, a study room and a small library. Each student has his own room and bathroom, and they can personalize it in any way they wish. It is encouraged that they create a place where they can be most comfortable and happy, as a matter of fact.

All the students are required to eat in the great hall with the rest of the school. One can choose what he prefers to eat from a daily menu provided by the kitchens, it is always healthy food to help the body regain energy faster and favor a better physical form. It will just appear on the student plate a few minutes after ." he continued.

"Good, greasy Hogwarts food is anything but healthy and they can't expect little children to be able to eat right portions on their own" Severus only ate a little during the meals, he hated those foods and preferred eating in the comfort of his rooms what his personal elf cooked for him.

"What about classes?" inquired Tom.

"The day begins at five in the morning for physical exercise. The younger years are followed by trainers while the senior students can be on their own, since they know better what is needed for their bodies. After that is breakfast at six thirty and lessons begin at half past seven. All the classrooms have a special time charm so that two hours on the inside are only one on the outside. It's a bit confusing at first but it helps with the big number of subjects. Lunch is at twelve and students have an hour to rest a little before the lessons start again at one. Dinner is at seven and sometimes there are classes from nine till eleven too.

This kind of schedule is very tiring on the body, mostly when there are physical subjects, so it is advised to have snacks through the day, as long as you are quiet and follow the lessons the teachers have no problem with you eating in class."

The hard program of the academy shocked all of them. They really expected eleven year old kids to follow with it? Aries as stunned as he was, found it interesting too. He was used to full days of work at the Dursleys, and as much as a little time to rest was welcomed, the hours of nothing to do at Hogwarts were a pain for him.

"As for your question, Emerald. The Academy starts at fifteen. Seeing the advanced level and the nature of certain subjects, along with the hard routine, younger students would not be able to keep up with it. So don't worry, you won't be so much behind your peers. I'll tell you what you need to know." Kieran smiled, lightly kissing his little mate's neck.

"As for the different subjects, there is a list with the letter." he said motioning for it.

Again it was Aries who read it for everybody.

_**AVALON ACADEMY OF MAGIC**_

_**List of subjects**_

_**Please tap your chosen subjects with your wand and a list of books and equipment will appear. **_

_**Transfiguration**_

_**Charms**_

_**Herbology**_

_**Potions**_

_**Magical Defence**_

_**Arithmancy**_

_**Ancient Runes**_

_**Divination (for seers only)**_

_**Care of Magical Creatures**_

_**Dark Arts**_

_**History (Magical and Muggle)**_

_**Healing**_

_**Warding**_

_**Spell Crafting**_

_**Enchanting **_

_**Summoning**_

_**Necromancy **_

_**Elemental Magic (for elementals only)**_

_**Blood Magic**_

_**Alchemy**_

_**Martial Arts **_

_**Weapon Combat**_

_**Dueling**_

_**Languages **_

_**Law and Politics**_

_**Finance and Management**_

_**Magical Culture and Traditions **_

Aries was awed at the number of classes offered, mostly because he wanted to attend all of them. He couldn't decide what leave behind. They seemed all so interesting and his newly found thirst for knowledge demanded him to study everything. Maybe he could learn alone from the library what he didn't take for classes.

Kieran chucked seeing Aries face, he seemed so concentrated like he couldn't make up his mind.

"The list is just for show mostly, you know" he said. "the Academy students usually take all the classes, the list is just to give people the chance to not take some subjects for specific reasons." he could already see relieve on his boyfriend face, before a happy smile graced his face.

"They really" "take all those" "classes?" asked the twins in disbelief. It was cool for them but the sheer amount of work and study that came with it was above their level of understanding.

"Yes, of course. The Academy invites to attend only the best the magical world had to offer. Before it accepted everyone with the gift of magic, but in the last centuries with the opening of schools all over the world, it became an elite institute. We have only the more powerful, the ones with rare and extraordinary gifts and the ones ready to work hard to learn and better themselves." he told them with pride in his voice.

For Aries to be invited, they realized, he really had to be incredibly powerful. They were all so happy for him.

Aries looked at his father since he was being too silent, and what he saw surprised him. Even if he looked composed and impassible, his eyes showed all the pride and love he felt for his son. He felt warm at the thought, and promised himself to do his best to never disappoint the man. Never, Aries had someone feeling proud of him, it felt good and only encouraged him to do his best at the new school. If his father let him go, that is.

"There is something I don't understand" started Severus with a pensive expression on his face "If the Academy needs to stay secret, what do the children invited tell the schools they were attending before? A transfer on fifth year is quite unusual after all" the others nodded, the question was legitimate one.

"That. I do not know" admitted Kieran. "The headmistress and professors take care of that. My headmaster at Salem's Institute of Magic was an alumni at Avalon, so there was no problem for me" he just never asked, but maybe he should. He didn't like not knowing something.

And he still had to find why these morons tried to attack and take Aries away, he remembered sending a glare to the masked people who sat straighter at that, praying he would not kill them.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Burrow Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were arguing. He could not understand how his wife always thought the best of Dumbledore, even if the man stole from Harry. It was like for her he was always right, without discussion.

"Arthur, be reasonable. The boy had no need for the money, and the headmaster used it for the greater good" insisted Molly while waving her hands around trying to make him see her point of view.

"That is beside the point. You cannot steal for someone and just be forgiven because it was used for good. Stealing is still stealing" he was tired of that. Since they married it was always what Molly wanted.

He tried to make her happy, giving in when she wanted more kids even if they could not afford it for example. He loved all of them, but hated the thought of not being able to give them the best and anything they wished for. Now Molly was obsessed with what Dumbledore thought, and it often involved young Harry.

"Don't talk like that. It's only thank to him if we could.." she stopped realizing she almost gave herself away.

"We what? Molly tell me immediately what you did or I swear you'll regret it!" he was shouting now. If there was something he did not stand, it was lies. At her guilty look he knew that she had done something behind his back.

"We.. I mean. It was for the kids.. and.." she stuttered. When Arthur pressed further she confessed of taking money from Dumbledore, Harry's money, since the Potters died. Part of it was, later, for Ron to spy on the Potter boy and for Ginevra who had to make him fall for her.

He felt disgusted. How could his wife do something like that? He gave her too much leeway over the years, limiting himself to nodding when she started to ramble about things. It wouldn't happen anymore.

"How could you do something like that? And behind by back!" he shouted. He could not forgive the woman for stealing from a child he thought like one of his own sons. "I swear Molly if you try to do anything else I will disown you. You can consider yourself under house arrest from this moment on" he ordered using the power he had as head of the family "Now get out of my sight".

He would think of a punishment for Ronald and Ginny in the morning and he would make it unforgettable. He did not raise his children to spy, steal and betray their friends.

* * *

**So.. yeah.. seems it was kinda obvious that Kieran was Dragon eh? I should have known you would figure it out so quickly.. anyway.. what did you think of this chapter? The fight wasn't anything special I know, but it was the first time I tried to write it and I think it was acceptable right? Big duels like Voldie vs Dumbles will be much more epic, I assure you.. **

**Anyway.. thank you all for following my story and for leaving a review. **

**AngelicReaper0012 : don't worry, there's nothing to destroy! XD I think the bosom hug of death will go nicely with the vision I have of a character I'll introduce later in the story .. **

**The Founder: Voldemort will duel Dumbledore, but not now. He doesn't want the wizarding world to think of Dumbles as a martyr if he were to kill him too early**

**Siriusblackkay: thank you. I agree with you, I mean who is like "hi, nice to meet you""nice to meet you too" "yeah, let's fuck" ? It's a bit too much to be real, even for a ff.**

**Slashluver1984: thank you so much! I'm glad you like my story =)**


	12. Chapter 12

**I should have updated once a week, but I had some problems with my computer. Anyway, here's the new chapter, I'm sorry for any mistakes you may find. **

* * *

There was a cough, and everybody turned to look at the masked people. It was one of them who coughed to call their attention, they just didn't know which one, since their faces were still covered.

"What do you want Gecko?" asked Kieran coldly, that in some way knew exactly who to address.

"There should be an attached letter from her inside. It should explain everything." he said hurriedly not wanting to anger the man further.

Kieran took the envelope looking for it. It was true there was another parchment written by her, he recognized her calligraphy. Passing it to Aries he silently asked him to read it aloud.

_**Dear Mr. Riddle, **_

_**You will find surprising receiving an invitation letter for an unknown school so late. I can explain the reason.**_

_**First of all, your name did not appear on our Book of Names until a few nights ago, so were not aware of your existence. The cause has yet to be found. But I can guess the old fool named Dumbledore is behind it. Very little happens in England without his hand in it. **_

_**You should have been informed of your acceptance around January, like all the other students, that he tried to stop us from reaching you is unacceptable. **_

_**It is unheard that one of the heirs is not attending the Academy. **_

_**You surely will be very behind your peers, seeing the low level of British education, again thanks to Dumbledore; but I'm sure that with some tutoring before the term you will have no problems catching up. A senior student will be then appointed to help you during school year, as is tradition for the school. **_

_**As Heir of Morgana Le Fay you also have some duties towards Avalon Academy and what it represent.**_

_**For these reason I'm going to send some people to retrieve you and take you to Avalon. **_

_**Sincerely. **_

_**Madam Lamia**_

_**Headmistress of Avalon Academy of Magic**_

"Let me get this straight" started Kieran, his voice pure ice "She sent you there to practically kidnap Aries. Not only that but she gave you order to incapacitate anyone that was with him at the time. All of that with this ridicule letter to explain?" he got to his feet, unable to keep still with all the anger the was feeling at the moment.

"Sir, in your absence we have to obey her orders." reminded him the one with the cobra mask. He knew that if he was not shouting, he was really really angry.

"I know that. But it seems that she failed to summon me." he snapped "why did she want him there?" he asked.

"We don't know, Sir. She just ordered to bring the second heir to her" replied one with a sparrow mask.

Kieran was now pacing back and forth, trying to understand what that woman was planning. She was a good headmistress, and a trusted friend on most occasions, but when it concerned Aries he seemed to become extremely possessive and protective.

He felt arms wrap around his middle and relaxed instantly, hugging back his little Emerald who was looking at him concerned.

"Key, who are they?" Aries asked. He was too curious to wait longer and he hoped it would help take Kieran's mind away from this woman.

"They are the Guardians." he answered knowing it would just bring more questions.

Aries was tilting his head cutely trying to understand if he should know what his boyfriend was talking about. He kissed lightly those pouty lips, not resisting anymore, and then went to sit on the armchair, with Aries on his lap.

Behind the masks, all the guardian had their eyes wide open, stunned at the gentleness of the man's actions with the young heir.

"The Guardians are a group of students, the best in the school, chosen for their skills and power by the Academy itself. Or better by the portraits of Merlin and Morgana, they can see and feel anything that happens inside the school. The guardians are basically elite warriors and mages under the command of the heirs. If there is no heir in the school the group is called Protectors, and they have only the task to defend the Academy from outside threats." he explained as best as he could without giving away important secrets. He could not tell them that they were behind most important moments in history after all.

"You sound more and more like a dark lord wannabe" mused Sirius, who dodged Remus' slap only to be hit by Lucius.

"You really would call a dark lord wannabe your favorite nephew? Shame on you, uncle" he replied pretending to be hurt bringing a hand to his heart.

"You're still my favorite nephew? I don't know .. Draco seems more respectful than you. He could be my new favorite nephew.. but then you're with Aries.."

Ignoring his still rambling uncle, Kieran addressed the guardian "Take off your masks, I'm tired of this shit already. I will to talk with Madam Lamia in the morning." he sighed rubbing his temples "and introduce yourselves." he added resting his head on Aries shoulder, who was running his fingers through his hair, making him want to purr at the boy's administrations.

The one with the wolf mask got up from his seat "My name is Asher Whitefang" he introduced himself while revealing his face. He was quite tall and muscular, with dirty blond hair that reached his shoulders and amber eyes. A werewolf, realized them. "I am the beta wolf of the Lycans Pack in the continent."

Next were a set of twins, a boy and a girl, the coyote and fox respectively. "I am Aidan Robin Aelius" said the first. He was tall, but not as much as the lycan, his black hair had red tips and his eyes were orange.

Quite strange, so he was a creature.

"And I am Nadia Scarlett Aelius" continued his sister, a pretty girl with long black hair with red strands on it and the same orange eyes. She was shorter than her brother but they looked very much alike.

"We are Phyros" they said together "our grandfather" "is the king" "of the fire elves". It seemed that the twin talk was mandatory. They smiled warmly before seating again.

A nicely shaped young woman took off her eagle mask, revealing her long black hair streaked in white, blue eyes and pretty japanese features "Greetings, my name is Valerie Miyu Kimiko" she said with a deep bow "I am a half veela, my aunt is the leader of our nation".

Following her was a tall guy with a cobra mask. He was quite tall, with black hair and eyes and tanned skin. He seemed to have black tribal tattoos all over his body, less marked on his face and hands where you could barely see them. "I am Lucas Shade Noir. I am the shadow demon's prince.". Not very talkative but straight to the point.

A short boy bounced on his feet taking off his sparrow mask. "Hello! My name is Leander Bion Enki, I'm a light elf. Nice to meet you!" he had light blond hair that reached his bottom, tied in a high ponytail, and amethyst eyes.

"I'm Jasper Aaron Casey" introduced himself the next guy, looking at the little elf as if to ask him to contain his cheerfulness. He had brown shoulder length hair, red eyes and was quite tall. "I am the prince of the vampire covens" he had a bat mask as if to make the point.

A pretty girl with light brown hair and teal eyes waved at them using her tiger mask. She had cute cat ears on her head and a tail in blond fur. "Hi, I'm Layla Jasmine Nyx and I'm a weretiger."

Another girl, that seemed slightly older than the others got up from her seat, her movements fluid and calm. "My name is Maya Pearl Ocean." she said with a small bow. Her light blue hair were long and framed her face. "I am a nymph" her mask showed an otter.

The last one had a gecko, he was quite tall, with green hair and violet eyes, that a moment later changed to blue and yellow respectively. "I am Mikhail Ian Raimond, I'm a changeling." as to support his words he changed to look like the tiger girl, who swatted him hard on the head when he tried to touch her boobs.

Aries found them interesting. So many different creatures all in one group, it was the real proof that wizards and other species could live together unlike what the Ministry insisted on saying. And they seemed funny too, some of them that is. Others looked too serious and intimidating.

"Soo" started Mikhail "what's up between you and cutie there Leo?" asked while pointing to Aries, still seated on his lap. All of them were wondering, but Mik was probably the bravest, or most stupid, to ask him right now.

Aries blushed at being called cutie. He was not cute. He refrained from trying to hide his face against his boyfriend chest, not wanting to seem too much affected by the thing.

"Not your business" replied Kieran while looking at his Emerald, he was so beautiful when he blushed. Pity he could not snog him senseless in front of his father.

The changeling pouted, and went to hug the quiet nymph for comfort. "You're so mean, bro" he complained while trying to snuggle against the gentle bosom. He was soon yanked away by the ear by Layla, who kept muttering about perverted animals who needed to be neutered.

So they were the friends Kieran talked about. Moments before they seemed addressing his boyfriend like some kind of commander, and now they were all relaxed and friendly. Like turning on and off a switch.

He yawned, suddenly tired from all the excitement of the evening. He tried to cover it with his hand, but his father saw it anyway.

"Maybe it's time to call it a night." suggested Tom "since you seem to be Kieran's friends, or subordinates, whatever it is.. you are welcome to stay"

Soon they were all shown a bedroom by the house elves, and everybody went to sleep.

Tom bid goodnight to his son, kissing him on the head, before going to bed himself giving the boy a chance to stay alone with his boyfriend. He was protective but not stupid.

As soon as the man was out of the door, Kieran started kissing Aries passionately. When they parted Aries laid his head on the other chest, reveling in the sensation. "Sleep with me tonight?" he asked sleepily. Key's answer was lifting him in his arms, bridal style, and going to the boy's bedroom.

* * *

The twins knew it from the first moment. Finally they would be compete, that meant among other things no more crisis because of unstable magic, they would not risk anymore to die. They grinned to the other while heading towards their bedroom, arms linked and a little bounce on their step. Their worries forgotten for the night, Fred and George slept with a silly smile on their faces, dreams filled with happy thoughts.

Draco found himself curious about those people that barged in with the intention of kidnapping Aries. It was just a few days, but he got attached to the other boy quite fast; without the mask of the golden boy he was really easy to befriend and like.

Looking at the way Kieran took care of them he realized he was very much useless in comparison. He was more advanced than his school peers in the use of magic but he knew nothing about muggle fighting and while practiced fencing since an early age he never used it in a real duel. He would have to change that, he did not like being weak, even more now that he knew what Dumbledore was capable of doing while he was at school.

Lucius went back to Malfoy manor, since Narcissa was waiting for him surely worried by now, he was quite late after all. He decided to leave Draco there, he was getting along with Aries quite well he was happy to see. They would be as close as brothers in no time if they continued like that.

Cissy would be pleased to know about it, and would also bombard him with question as soon as he told her of the newcomers.

He groaned at the thought of not being able to sleep for who knows how long before his wife was content with his answers.

Remus and Sirius were happy at the thought of their pup going to a legendary prestigious school. Even if it shaped its student like perfect soldiers. At least Aries would be able to protect himself against everything. He would have to work hard, but they would be there to help and encourage him.

Tom was in his bedroom, seated in his overstuffed armchair with a glass of red wine in hand.

"Oh my baby going to Avalon Academy! I'm so excited!" gushed Selena "Still, I can't believe I lost all the action!" she pouted in her frame "and all because your great-great aunt Eveline wanted to gossip!" .

"I already told all that happened love." he tried to placate her. He would have shown her a pensieve memory if he could but with her like that it was impossible.

He would give anything to be able to hold her again in his arms and kiss her pouty red lips. He sighed listening her talking.

"I bet Kieran looked like a deadly hot prince while fighting those guardians! Oh but not more sexy than you of course. No one is sexier than my husband" she said while nodding at her own words.

* * *

The following day Severus decided to talk to the twins first thing in the morning. He was nervous about what he was about to propose them, and with every reason.

He was the most hated professor in Hogwarts, not that he tried to make the students like him, until they feared him there would be a semblance of order in his class and less potion incidents. Still, with the years his not very friendly nature became a really bad temper. The people that could take him to the right side and not being hexed were few.

He felt pleased that the first person the twins thought to be their guardian was him, but now the inexplicable fear of being rejected by whom he considered sons overwhelmed him. He took a few calming breaths and waited to talk to them.

So when he heard them passing in front of his room, he stepped out inviting them to enter for a moment.

Fred and George were surprised, but complied to the man's request and went in. Severus conjured a pair of armchairs for them to seat, before positioning himself behind his desk.

"I asked you there because I may have a solution for your problem" started the man. At his words the two sat a little straighter, curious to know his idea. They would do anything to be really free of their family, but if it was a good thing it was even better.

"I talked with Remus last night and he suggested that you could be blood adopted." he stopped clearing his throat and waiting for his words to sink in.

"But wouldn't he know that we're adopted if he make us take a test?" asked Fred, or was it George, referring to Dumbledore.

"No. With a light potion that would be normal, but if you take a dark one and take part to a required ritual it would be like you never were Weasleys." he explained, pleased that they were thinking things through.

"So, the change would be permanent?" asked the other one, with a little frown on his face.

"Yes, it can't be removed. So you should think carefully before deciding." he advised them. He didn't want them to embark in something bigger than them only to regret it later in time.

"Dumbledore would surely suspect something if someone showed up with twin sons suddenly" protested the first again.

"I'm sure Lucius would help creating new identities for you and documents to prove your cover story" he assured them. He still had to talk with the man, but he would certainly help. He looked at the boys, noticing that they seemed to struggle to come to a decision. "Boys, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. If you don't feel comfortable with that we'll look for another solution"

"It's just.." "it's difficult to" "let go of" "our lives" it seemed that the more they were emotionally distressed, the worse the twin talk became "and we still" "would have the" "same problem of" "who to ask" "to become" "our new parent"

The twins were again thinking of Professor Snape, they trusted him and he was the first to truly recognize their talent and praise them for their work, always encouraging them to work hard and experiment more even if people thought it impossible or stupid.

He did in the last four years what their parents never did in their life. He supported them and helped them, hoping they would realize their dream one day. He would be a perfect father for them, bad temper and all. But they didn't want to trouble him.

If he showed up with sons Dumbledore would surely give him the third degree, he would do anything to find the truth and why his precious spy had hidden something from him.

They looked at each other, silently talking.

"I understand it could be difficult ceasing to be Gred and Forge and adapt to a new look and identity" he slowly told them, using the names they made for themselves "but you are smart boys, you could have any parent you want. Remus would take you in in a heartbeat, if it wasn't for moronic ministry decrees. I would take you in too if it was what you wanted" he added nearly too low for them to hear, but not quite " it's your decision"

Fred and George could not believe their ears. Snape really wanted to adopt them? It seemed almost too good to be true.

"You really" "would" "do it?" they asked, eyes shining with hope. "What" "about" "Dumbedore?" they really would hate to give away his role as spy or getting him in trouble with the old coot.

"I will take care of him, you don't have to worry about that. Think about what you want to do without considering the old fool, or the war.. just you. When you have made a decision, whatever it is I'll be sure to have the potion ready so you can be adopted by whomever you choose, if that is what you wish" Severus told them, making sure that they understood everything. They would have until the start of the school to come to a decision, while in Slytherin manor they were safe and nor Dumbledore nor the Weasley matriarch could find them.

The twins thanked Severus promising to think about it very carefully and left for breakfast. The man would follow shortly.

* * *

Kieran woke up earlier than usual and decided to go to the training room for a bit of work out, careful to not wake up Aries. He deserved a bit more of sleep after the previous day.

He was soon joined by the other Avalon students who, like him, were used to morning exercise.

"So, what's up with green eyes?" asked Asher while the two of them were sparring.

Kieran had never been with someone, as in a relationship. He had jumped from bed to bed for a couple of years, but he never let anyone get near him.

He did not trust people, they would know that better than anyone since it took them an awful lot of time to get him to open up and befriend him.

They thought that he would never find someone to love, he was full of people that wanted him it was true, but he didn't even see them. Those people wanted his money or power, he deserved better on their opinion.

All the guardians, after years, were ready to give up and see him tied in a loveless marriage or alone, Leo was perfectly capable of not giving a shit about needing an heir and go on like a bachelor.

Witnessing last night how he behaved with the second heir, Aries, they were both shocked and happy.

How could this little wizard have captured his attention and heart in so little time? They hoped it was the real thing, and not just a summer fling.

"What's with all the interest in my life?" he shot back while dodging a kick aimed at his head, and bouncing back ready to counter attack.

"We're always" "interested in" "your life, Leo" grinned the twins who were running around the room.

"C'mon mate! I've never seen you kissing someone like that. I've never seen you kissing someone at all now that I think about it." commented Lucas from his position doing some weights.

"You're really insistent this morning" huffed the young man. It was like being questioned by aurors, if not worse.

"We're just happy you found someone, Leo. And we would like to know more about him." placated him Maya smiling gently.

"Yeah. I mean you're together at least, or you're just waiting to fuck him?" asked Mik, as blunt as always.

"What the fuck? You insensible animal!"yelled Layla throwing her handlebars at him.

* * *

Aries woke up alone. He was worried about that but when he saw the hour he supposed Key would be running or maybe in the training room with his friends. He showered and after dressing he went to find his boyfriend so they could go together at breakfast.

On the way he met Draco, who seemed still sleepy. "You okay?" he asked wanting to make sure there was nothing wrong with the other.

"Yeah. I just couldn't fall asleep last night, and I'm not a morning person during summer." the blond admitted.

It was not his fault if he liked a good lie in, at school he always had to wake up early to make sure everything was perfect.

"I'm used to wake up early, by now. I just can't stay in bed for too much time" he always dreaded the timed he had to stay in bed for hours to no end in the hospital wing. It was pure torture for him.

They chatted a bit while heading for the training room, Draco had agreed to come with him since he was curious as to what kind of exercise they would be doing.

As they neared the door they could hear voices. They were talking about him and Kieran, realized Aries. Draco, knowing the other boy was curious as to what they would say, stopped outside to listen.

The poor wizard felt himself blushing ten shades of red when Mikhail asked about the sex part. He was insecure too. They hinted the fact that Key had several lovers, and he felt nearly inadequate. He had no experience, and was totally ordinary looking.

Draco mean while was chuckling at the little tiger temperament. She was a real firecracker.

Aries waited holding his breath for Kieran to answer. For some reason he felt scared too.

Then he hear it. His boyfriend voice.

"Listen here. I know I've slept around quite a lot, but it's not like that." Leo started, and everybody was looking at him with wide eyes. To suppose something and hear the man admitting it were two different things. "Aries is different. I would never use him like that." he said.

"So, what's up between you two?" pressed Jasper. Maybe they would get him to spit it out already.

"He's my boyfriend" he answered.

The girls were all smiling with little hearts in their eyes, they were really happy Leo was experiencing some love and Aries looked so cute. While the girls cooed at how adorable they were together and such, making Kieran wince at the saccharine in their voices, the boys had a different reaction. They all grinned and clapped him on the shoulders congratulating him for a great catch, his little wizard looked like a real keeper.

All of them could not wait to get to know Aries. And maybe find out how he did such a miracle.

"So. Are you in love with him?" asked Valerie tilting her head. She realized only after that it was a bad question. Leo just opened himself for a relationship, talking about love could scare him away.

"Love.." pondered him. "I don't think it's love yet. But I'm falling hard, if that answer your question." he admitted keeping his voice soft.

Outside the door Aries was smiling like we won the lottery, or like a loon as Draco would say.

His eyes were shining and barely refrained himself from bouncing around. Kieran really thought the things he said to him on the beach the night of his birthday. He knew they were true, but it was difficult letting go of insecurities, and him admitting it to his friends too just made it more real for him.

He felt the strand representing their bond glowing brightly and getting a little bigger in his mind.

After composing himself he entered the now quiet room, since all were shocked at the man's confession, and told them it was nearly time for breakfast so they should hurry if they wanted to shower. Then went to greet Key with a kiss, wrapping his arms around the other's neck.

* * *

**Thank you for following my story and leaving a review. As you saw last chapter Arthur seemed to stand up to Molly, but will it last? **

**What do you think about Severus proposition to the twins to adopt them? Are the guardians like you imagined them? **

**Let me know what you think =D **


	13. Chapter 13

**200 favorites and 300 followers! You're amazing! **

**Really I would have never thought that so many people would like my story! =) I can't thank you enough. **

**Anyway, sorry if it took a while to update but I was really worried about my cat. He had his nose bleeding for a few days anytime he sneezed.. turns out he's allergic to the mimosa.. for one time that my father does something nice and buys the plant for women's day.. -.-**

**Well, enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

After breakfast he went with his father to the man's study. They talked mostly about the school and what he wanted to do.

Tom made clear that it was his son decision if he wanted to go back to Hogwarts or give a try to the Academy.

Both had many pros and cons. He would be sad to leave behind his friends, both old and new, and he would miss the beautiful castle.

But the Academy curriculum was ten times better and gave him the possibility to learn everything he could, and with Dumbledore he would need it to protect himself.

It would be far from home but Kieran would be there for him, along with the guardians. From what he understood Key was their leader but they would obey his orders too, not that he was interested in that. He just was hopeful to become friends with them.

Also it was his ancestor, Morgana Le Fay, along with Merlin who founded the Academy and if what was written in the letter of the headmistress was true he had some kind of duties as the heir. He would have to ask Key about it later.

Slytherin and Gryffindor had attended the academy too, and were two of the most powerful wizards ever knew. It was a great opportunity and he should not waste it, as his father said.

For that he needed to train hard though, he did not want to seem a little boy who knew nothing and to be left behind by his classmates, as an heir he needed to uphold a certain image and prove his worth after all.

Of course he choose to take all the subjects, bar from divination since he did not have the gift.

Decision made, he started to read as much books he could, starting from the ones he bought in LA since his elves had not yet finished copying his libraries. He would take a look at the work once it was all done.

* * *

The talk with Madam Lamia went exactly how Kieran expected it would. He shadowed to her office in the first hours of the morning demanding answers.

"My Lord, what is the meaning of this? Barging in my office unannounced and.." she tried to scold him but he silenced her with a look.

"I can do what I want as you well know. Now explain why you tried to have my men kidnap Aries!" he knew he should be more polite, after all she was way older than him being a vampire, and she always helped him since he set foot in Avalon for the first time; but his protectiveness toward his boyfriend prevailed.

"Aries? How come you address the second heir so informally?" she inquired "and I wanted him here, because he would surely have been in Dumbledore's care and he needs to be trained. This is not a child's play, attending the Academy is a serious thing"

"I know that perfectly well, Lamia. But you should have been more informed. Aries was with his real father at the time, the Dark Lord Voldemort, maybe you know of him, and I assure you he was not happy at the sudden invasion of his manor. Nor was I." he admonished her "As for how I know him. I met him some time ago, and already started to train him even before knowing he was the second heir."

"You know him? Kieran this is big.. you shouldn't have.. what if you?" she was rambling and he didn't understand what the problem was. It's not like he ever risked killing the other, and they lost the second heir. "You can't do what you want when you want if there is something like that at stake! What is your relationship with the boy?" she demanded.

"Don't you dare to order me around!" he snapped making her flinch "Not that it is any of your business, Lamia, but we're together." she seemed both shocked and relieved at the answer for some reasons she refused to tell him.

"I'm going back now. The guardians will stay with me, they may be useful in training Aries. Don't bother to send a teacher, I will take care of everything regarding school matters." with that he vanished again enveloped by his shadows before she could even think of replying.

He felt a bit guilty at how he treated the vampire woman and would surely apologize at the start of the term. He didn't know if these feelings were caused by the bond or if his own emotions were stronger than he thought. He had never been in love after all, and did not know what to expect exactly from that. Maybe the next unexpected thing to experience would be jealousy.

* * *

Fred and George, as promised, thought carefully about the blood adoption. It was really the best solution, they knew it, but they still had doubts. They had been Gred and Forge all of their lives and thinking of becoming someone else was difficult and even a little sad.

It was not the physical changes that upset them, looking different than usual but still the same as the other was not a problem for them. They feared losing their identities and becoming someone else that they did not recognize. It was an unfounded fear, they were not going to change who they were for anyone, but it was still there.

Also, they knew they wanted Snape to do it but even if the man offered to adopt them, they were still not sure that the man really wanted them or if he was doing it for pity. Stupid, Severus Snape showing pity on someone, but for their confused minds it was a possibility. There was still the threat of Dumbledore to think about. The man would be in danger if the old man suspected anything about the adoption.

After hours of talking between themselves they decided that maybe a third opinion would be a good thing. The only one that they could ask was Aries, they trusted him and he was one of the few people that truly knew them being able to tell them apart too, something their own mother could not do.

They found him in the library curled on a couch reading, he started early in the morning and book after book he still had not stopped, apart from a short break for lunch when Kieran had to pull him over his shoulder since the boy refused to come. It was entertaining to see the little wizard punching the other's back demanding to be let go.

Deciding that another little break would not hurt Aries, they went to sit on either side of him waiting to be acknowledged.

"What can I do for you?" he asked after placing a bookmark in his transfiguration tome. He saw at breakfast that the twins seemed bothered but instead of asking he had decided to wait for them to come to him. He did not want to force them to talk to him and he knew that if they needed advice or help they would come on their own.

Gred and Forge told him immediately about their dilemma, recounting the events in Snape room and their fears and doubts. Aries would be the only one able to calm them and reassure them what they wanted was the right thing.

"Guys" started Aries "if Severus is who you want to be your father, who you trust in this situation and you are sure that you can live with being other people, Snape's sons, for the rest of your lives… You should do it." he told them keeping his voice soft "Leave behind your worries about Dumbledore or else. Severus is perfectly capable of taking care of himself and if he's the one who offered, it means that he really wants you."

"you're right" "we shouldn't think" "of such things" "we'll try" "and decide" "based only on" "what we want" "thank you, little brother" they said with a small smile and a hug, they left him alone with his book.

But soon he was ambushed by the ten guardians. They seated themselves all around him, as if they were trying to leave him without escape routes and just looked at him.

He started to feel uncomfortable with all the staring, mostly because he did not know them "Um. Can I do anything for you?" he asked, keeping the stuttering at the minimum level possible and trying to hide behind his book.

"As a matter of fact. Yes you can" Asher, or Wolf, replied. He seemed always the first to come forward, it must have been with some kind of hierarchy inside the group that stuck even if not on mission. "You see, I've known Leo for four years now… we're really good friends" he trailed on.

"What he's trying to ask is: how in Merlin's name did you manage to wrap Leo around your little finger?" Mik was sure to always get to the point, he did not like when people talked around things, even more when he was curious about it.

"I.. I didn't do anything" he replied, a bit surprised about the kind of question. He expected something different, school related maybe or about his role as heir of Le Fay.

"How did you meet?" inquired Maya, she seemed the more level headed of them all. She radiated calm and Aries could not help but smile at her.

"Um, it was when I run away from my supposed relatives. He was working at the inn to help a friend" a question followed by another and he found himself telling them everything that happened. He could feel that they were trusted people and would not betray him, so he did not really mind their trying to get him to talk to know every little detail about him. So he told them all from the Dursleys to his years at Hogwarts. He kept his moments with Kieran for himself though, his boyfriend would not appreciate if he gave away those details and he wanted to keep them for himself too, even if they insisted for more.

At the end they were all scandalized at his treatment by the hand of the muggles and at the actions of James Potter and Dumbledore. They all vowed to protect the new member of their strange family and show him what being loved and having true friends meant. They were all creatures with strong instincts and knowing one of their own had been harmed angered them incredibly.

He found himself surrounded by the girls in the blink of an eye. Maya was hugging him against her gentle bosom while Valerie caressed his hair, Nadia held his hands and Layla rubbed shooting circles on his back . He felt a little overwhelmed, not being used yet to so much human contact.

"Man, you're a women magnet!" laughed Lucas at his predicament while Mik pouted at being denied the same affection, receiving only a shoe in the head from the blonde tiger.

"Anyway" started Jasper after a while "thank you for what you're doing to Leo" he said with a little smile, showing a white fang.

"I'm not doing anything" he replied confused "why are you thanking me?"

"Because you're changing him" piped in Leander "or better, you're giving him the chance to be fully himself, to open up to someone and to experience love. He's always so.. on guard, if you would, around people. It took us a lot of time to get him to trust us."

"Yeah, he doesn't show himself" "to anyone, always with his" "mask firmly in place" commented Aidan and Nadia.

"With you he's like we've never seen him before, and we're happy for that" smiled Valerie.

"We hoped for so much time that he could find someone to love him, he's a beautiful person and deserves only the best" stated Maya, who was still holding his hand from beside him.

"I hope everything works right between you two, you're a beautiful couple" chirped Layla bouncing in her seat.

Aries did not know what to say to that. He did not know that Key was so different at school, but he should have imagined it, he was raised like a pureblood after all, and it seemed that all of them had some kind of mask in place. He was also happy, not having realized before that his boyfriend was showing him a part of himself that no one knew before him. So he just smiled to them, emerald eyes sparkling happily.

"If you're ambushing my boyfriend for juicy details, you better start running" Aries turned quickly and found Kieran grinning, resting with his side against the door, arms crossed. He slowly righted himself and stalked towards the others. Valerie left him her seat, so he could stay beside Aries, after thanking her with a small smile he sat down wrapping his arm around his little Emerald shoulders, who instantly snuggled up to him and kissed him softly on the lips.

"So? What were you talking about?" inquired Kieran.

"Nothing!" Mik, Aiden and Nadia all hurried to reply. Not the best way to keep a secret. He looked at them with a raised eyebrow as if to say "really inconspicuous guys".

"They just wanted to talk a bit and become friends since I'm your boyfriend" replied Aries with his best innocent look. Even knowing it was a lie Key could not resist those huge eyes and pouty lips so he just nodded and kissed him again.

The others sighed in relief at Aries great save of the situation, and thanked him silently.

"Where did you go? We were looking for you." asked Asher.

"I went to talk to Madam Lamia. Everything's okay." he reassured them "but I think my magical mobile doesn't work anymore" he said holding up his phone and shaking it a little.

"That's strange" commented Lucas. Those phones were modified from the normal muggle devices to work on magic; they did it themselves last year using runes to make the things run on magic.

"The only thing that comes to my mind is an overload due to a sudden spike of magic, but it's not so common" said Valerie.

"Maybe it was on Aries birthday. When the glamour fell there was a huge wave of magic, it lasted nearly an hour" mused Key while looking at Val to ask her opinion.

"It is possible. And it would explain why we couldn't contact you for the mission" she replied.

"Anyway. Did you need something?" he asked since Asher told him that they were looking for him.

"Yeah, we were wondering if we could help Aries for his training" everybody nodded at his words. They felt useless in the vast manor without anything interesting to do, there was only so much exercise they could stand doing before going crazy with boredom. And any school work was done within the first two weeks of holiday.

Kieran looked at Aries as if to ask what he thought about the idea. He knew how shy he could be with strangers and even if he seemed fine with his friends they could be a bit overwhelming at times.

"Um, I'd like that" he admitted "and I wouldn't mind making some friends before the term starts."

"Very well, you can help then." conceded Kieran. Aries was right, he could use some friends and the twins and Layla were the same age as him, they would get along wonderfully he was sure of that.

The guardians all seemed excited at the idea of both tutoring the boy and to get to know him better, it would be a good chance for them to become his friends. Now they only had to decide who would teach what and make up schedules so that the young heir would be ready for the start of the term.

* * *

In the following days, as decided, Aries started to train with everyone and found the experience to be really good since they all had different styles and pointers to give him. In the meanwhile he was still doing some self study and a lot of reading from his books.

The elves finally finished copying everything, after a week. The library compartment of his trunk was huge. There were four floors of bookcases in total, all magically expanded, in the center of the room there were a few long tables with chairs for when he needed to do serious research and couches and armchair in front of a fireplace for more relaxed reading. In the exact middle of the room there was also the master book, where all the books in the library where recorded so he could find all he needed just by writing a few words in the great tome. It was positioned on a golden stand that looked like a phoenix in flight with the book laying on his spread wings.

His collection was now massive, surpassing the Hogwarts library many times. Every time he could he went in there curling on his favorite armchair and read what he thought interesting. Later he would try the spells learned until they came natural to him. Kieran was rubbing off on him with his need of perfection.

* * *

Sirius was now helping him in human transfiguration, seventh year material in Hogwarts, and wanted to start soon in his animagus training claiming that a true marauder needed an animal form. He could not wait to start on that, curious and excited at the idea of transforming in an animal. He wondered what he would become.

His father told him in confidence he was a basilisk animagus, a really rare thing, and showed him his form. He was beautiful, nearly thirty feet long with shiny black scales that gleamed red if hit in the right direction by the light. Would be become a snake too? Or transform in a feline like his mother who was a winged lioness?

After much pestering he convinced Sirius in starting earlier and was back to meditating to find his form. Really boring but it was the best way to do it. One could use a revealing animagus potion too, but the bond with the inner animal would be weaker and it would be easier to give in into the instincts of the beast.

The funny part was when Sirius started pestering Kieran to have him learn the art too, not knowing that the young man was already proficient in that. It was entertaining seeing the marauder coming up with different kinds of methods to convince his nephew, one more improbable than the previous. When Sirius transformed in Padfoot and licked Kieran all over the face at breakfast one morning, the control of the young Lord snapped.

He turned in a dark golden lion with a black mane all of a sudden landing on top of the poor dog and roaring at the top of his lungs. There was to say that he was really huge as a lion, a strong body all of powerful muscles, and Padfoot was soon whining under his weight. He could not be blamed, everyone would be scared shitless in his place.

Half of the table was stunned into silence, who in fear since certain people could lose themselves to the animal instincts when under strong emotions, who in awe at the majestic form and the guardians simply enjoining the show. Meanwhile Aries got up from his seat running to the lion with little stars in his eyes, only to pet him and coo at him how beautiful he looked. At that Kieran's friend feared the worst, he hated to be treated as a kitten when in lion form. But to their astonishment again, he simply started purring under the boy's fingers and nuzzling his big muzzle against him.

Soon Fred, George and Draco singed up with Sirius wanting to learn to be animagus too. His training session, or better meditation session became more crowded he was glad to see. He liked his training one on one, but having some company felt good once in a while.

* * *

His father was teaching him parselmagic, an art that was handed down from father to son in their family. Tom did not have a parent to teach him, having instead to learn on his own from the many books of the library, and enjoyed being able to have some moments father and son like that with Aries. They were closer than ever, spending every night at least an hour on their own to talk and share memories. Aries finally found the steady figure in his life that he needed to guide him and make him feel safe, while Tom had his family back.

As for their studies, Aries found out that perseltongue was not only to used to talk to snakes, it worked even with dragons; something he would have much wanted to know back during the first task of the tournament. He could have avoided nearly becoming the horntail's lunch.

Spells cast in the snake language were also more powerful than normal ones, giving you the surprise effect since your enemies would be unable to understand or recognize what was coming at them and they could not be countered if not by a parseltongue. His only problem was that he did not realize when he talked in one language or the other. The only times he talked parseltongue it was because there was a snake with him, and doing on his own came difficult to him.

Talking daily with Vidar helped Aries adjusting to switch from a language to the other without problems, and also strengthened their bond so soon they would be able to develop a mind link too. Something that came a little slower with Yoru and Charon since he was not able to communicate like that with them without the link.

* * *

Lucius and Severus became both important figures in his life very soon. The lessons helped in developing a good relationship with them, just like Kieran said. Also, after a couple of weeks he could consider himself quite talented in potions, thanks to the master guiding him and the skill inherited from his parents. He easily brewed sixth year level potions and started to think of methods to make certain droughts more powerful, often helped by his teacher.

Severus was glad to see the boy being so carefree and learning everything in so little time. He really was natural.

As for runes he became quite capable, thanks to his eidetic memory and occlumency memorizing the runic alphabets was not too difficult, just long. Arithmancy was not one of his best subjects, finding a bit more difficulty in that, but he was slowly getting better. Lucius was a patient teacher and tried to make things more understandable for him.

On the bright side of the things he now looked at the men like a godfather and an uncle respectively, much to their contentment, and that of Selena.

* * *

Defence with Remus was going brilliantly, he had always been good at that, even at school he was the first of the class, much to Hermione's frustration; so they concentrated mostly on spell casting and dueling. He would learn new spells for his arsenal while sparring, and how to recognize them only by the color or wand movement.

Thanks to his werewolf speed and agility Moony was a formidable opponent, only bested by one of the guardian when they started to spar with him after the man thought he was starting to know his patterns too well. Silent casting was now the norm for him, and his wandless abilities were progressing even if it took a lot of concentration on his part, something he still needed to work while on duels.

* * *

Charms with the twins was always exciting and entertaining. They taught him things while having fun or plotting pranks on the other habitants of the manor. That lead to a three way prank war against the marauders and the fire elves twins. More than once other found themselves to be the victim of one of their works and spells would fly.

Sirius found himself transformed into a cat after eating a candy, he hated cats.

Remus was unable to see anything for a day when hit by a stray spell during a full out duel between Aries and the Aelius twins.

Severus sported blue hair for two days and Lucius's cane started shouting insults at random people, the latter was a favorite of everyone.

Tom's paperwork danced the tip tap on his desk one morning, and only because it freed him from work he did not punish anyone for the prank. After all, paperwork was evil.

The only one to come out untouched was Kieran. Even if they tried to prank him he always avoided being hit.

These were only examples of the twins kind of lessons. The prank war was a nightmare in comparison, and was ended only after the dark lord started shouting and threatening that there would be cruciatus flying if they did not stop immediately. He may not be a murdering psycho but his patience was still short, and his reputation helped in subduing the pranksters.

For his part Aries had never had so much fun in his life and could not wait to do it again. Maybe after his father calmed down a bit though.

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**Aaaand.. that's it.. **

**I was thinking that maybe I could add a shorter chapter with all the pranks they pulled, just for a good laugh. What do you think? Would you like that or prefer the next chapter right away?!**

**To answer yout reviews: yeah Aries and Kieran are extremely cute together! I love them. Yana5 I completely agree with you, it makes you want to have someone like that =) **

**We'll see more of Arthur in te next chapter, but i'm still unsure of what to do with him in the end. **

**Last thing i want to say is... Review!Review!Review! the more you review the more I write! =)**


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